What if?
by muchachomomo
Summary: What if Saena had an affair and Kyoko was the result? what if Kyoko's real father were still alive? What if she found out Sho didn't love her before they ran away? Kyoko, desperate to get out of her hometown filled with horrible memories, takes up famous director Shin Hatake's offer to become an actress. what she didn't expect was to become his adopted daughter! OCs, first fanfic
1. Prologue

**Okay, this is my first fanfic EVER, so no flames please :) though constructive criticism is appreciated, don't just hate my story for no logical reason. I had this idea for some time, and my beta-reader modified it to make it a thousand times cooler, so i decided to write it. warning: Kyoko won't always be the happy-go-lucky, innocent, fairy loving girl in this fic. i don't think it's reasonable to make her so innocent after everything she's been through. **

**Beta-read by Katilynchosenisme, who is an awesome Beta author :)**

**Enjoy!**

**_Prologue:_**

"_How could you! I trusted you and this is how you repay me?!" Kyoko hid in her room under the bed as she heard her parents fighting. She heard her mother's irritated voice, "it's not my fault! We were drunk and by the time I found out he was gone and we were married! What did you want me to do, huh?! Hunt him down?" Kyoko quivered under the bed. 'I hope this ends soon. I hate it when Mommy and Daddy fight,' she thought, flinching when she heard the front door slam shut. Her parents never had a good relationship to begin with, but lately she heard them fighting a lot more, and it was always father who got mad first. _

_Quietly she peeked out of her room and saw her mother sitting on the ground with her head in her hands, papers strewn everywhere. Hesitantly, Kyoko walked up to her. "Mother, what's wro-" she became quiet when her mother slapped her hand to the side. She looked up fearfully at her furious mother. "This is all your fault, you brat! You're the reason I'm so miserable! Get out of my sight this instant you twit!" _

_Kyoko ran out of the house and into the forest, tears running down her face. She ran and ran until she reached a tiny stream. She collapsed on the ground and cried to her heart's content. "w-why does m-m-mother hate me?" she asked herself. _

_When she came back home, she saw her father walking towards the door with a suitcase in hand. "Daddy, where are you going?" he looked at her and glared. _

"_I'm not your father." and he stormed out the door. Kyoko stood there confused. _

"_Daddy? Daddy, please come back. Daddy!" she screamed as she ran behind the taxi her father was in. finally collapsing from the exhaustion, she watched in horror as the car drove away. "Daddy, come back." she whispered, crying in the middle of the street._

_-Scene Change-_

_Slap! Kyoko slammed against the wall, falling on the floor with a thud. She looked up at her mother in fear. "You failure! I gave up everything to raise you, and this failure is what I get? You're the mistake I wish I got rid of years ago!" Kyoko ran out of the house, mortified. "Come back here you brat!" hearing her mother's voice close by, she looked around frantically, trying to find some way to escape. 'The woods,' she thought, running as fast as she could to get as far away from her mother as possible. Branches scraped her bare arms and legs, making them dirty and bloody. She kept running until she collapsed, finally giving in to the aches and pains all over her body. She lay there on the grass, clothes torn and hair messy, and cried. She cried silently at first, and then slowly became louder until she was nearly screaming. "why, mo-ther, wh-at did I do w-wrong?" she quivered, curling herself into a ball as she cried herself to exhaustion. _

_Finally getting up, she looked at her surroundings. She sat atop a tiny hill that led to a stream and a steep rocky ledge that looked down on the stream from above. She walked down to the stream, splashing her face with water. She looked down at her reflection; messy, tangled black hair in two short pig tails, puffy eyes, and a torn up pink dress that originally came down to her ankles. Her right sleeve was torn off and the bottom was all covered in dirt and leaves, torn sideways so that part of the dress only came down to her knees. Looking at herself in that state, she started crying again. "I'm a failure. Just a plain boring girl that nobody will love." _

"_What's wrong?" she looked up and saw someone fly in the air. "Don't cry little girl." when the person landed, she saw his shiny gold hair and charming smile. 'Fairy...' she thought, "prince fairy, what's your name?" _

_He looked a little surprised, but replied. "Um, I'm Kuon. What's your name?"_

_Kyoko smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you Corn! I'm Kyoko. What is a fairy doing here in the human world?" _

"_Well, Kyoko-chan, I'm here with my father on vacation."_

"_Oh, your father must be the king of all fairies! Can you fly for me again?"_

_Beep! Beep! Beep! _Kyoko pounded the alarm, slowly getting up for school. _I haven't had that dream in a while, _she thought, wiping the tears off her face. It had been 7 years since that fateful day, when her father had left. Even then, the last few months she spent with him were, painful, to say the least. _He would look at me with disgust, as if I did something vulgar, _she thought, stepping into the bathroom.

Closing her eyes under the shower, she recalled all the things that happened after her father left. _Mother, _she sighed. _She left her mark, on me, and then decided to pack her bags and leave, _she thought bitterly. _3 years, I was alone in that house for 3 years, and that woman never even thought about what would happen to me, not that it mattered to her what this failure of a child did. _

She came out of the shower in a rather sour mood. After Kyoko's father left, her mother took out all her anger and frustrations on Kyoko. _To go as far as scarring your child, _she shuddered at the memory, hand subconsciously traveling to her stomach. Still, she continued thinking about everything that happened in the last 7 years. She giggled; _I met Corn, the only person who tried to comfort me when I cried. _She smiled, feeling lightweight at the thought of her favorite fairy. _It's too bad he had to leave, but I understand why he had to go, _she continued brushing her hair and looked at the clock. _6:32. I have time, _and she hurried down the stairs.

"Good morning Okami-san, Taisho-san," Kyoko bowed to the elderly couple. She looked around. "Where is Sho-chan?"

Okami sighed. "I just woke him up, so he's still in the shower. Come Kyoko, eat some breakfast before you two leave." she smiled at the kind woman, gratefully accepting her plate of food. She sat down at the table to eat, looking around at the maids running about early in the morning.

One day, while Kyoko was working at the inn, she collapsed from starvation. That day, the okami found out that Kyoko had been living alone for 3 years after her mother left, barely able to support herself which led to her collapsing. She offered Kyoko a place in their home, and Kyoko reluctantly accepted. _If Okami hadn't let me work in exchange for living here, I would have never taken her up on the offer. I'm almost 13, I can't impose too much on their family, now can I? _She ate her food happily, being careful not to drop anything on her clothes. As soon as she finished, she saw Sho come down the stairs grumpily. She giggled. _He's always grumpy in the morning, but it looks like he's more irritated than usual. _She smiled brightly and walked over to him. "Good morning, Sho-chan!" he looked at her for a split second before looking away just as fast. Kyoko's smile wavered slightly as she turned towards the Okami. "I think I forgot something upstairs. I'll go get it." and happily skipped upstairs. When she was sure no one could see her, she frowned, deep in thought. _Sho has been extremely distant lately. I hope I didn't do anything to bother him, _she wondered, running to her room to get her tiny purse. Smiling, she opened the purse to reveal a blue stone. Her gaze softened as she recalled how she got the stone in the first place.

"_Kyoko-chan, I have to go back home." she looked at Corn with tears in her eyes._

"_W-why, Corn? Why are you leaving me like Father did? Will you come back?" Corn looked at her with a pained expression._

"_I'm sorry, Kyoko-chan, but I don't think I'll be able to come back. My home is far away and it'll be very hard to come back." he looked at her sadly. "Here, I want you to have this." he took out a blue stone from his pocket and gave it to her._

"_What's this?"_

"_whenever I get sad, I hold this stone up to the light and it magically takes the sadness away." to prove his point, he held it up and Kyoko Gasped as the stone turned from blue to purple. _

"_Thanks, Corn! I'll never forget you!"_

She put the stone back in its purse and took it downstairs. Grabbing her bag, she met Sho at the door and they left for school. While they were walking, Kyoko felt a sudden chill go up her back. _I have a feeling something's about to go horribly wrong._

**You like? leave a review, it would be greatly appreciated! more reviews=happy me=quicker updates! **

**I will be posting chapter 1 soon! you have rights to pelt me with tomatoes if it isn't up by next week!**

**Hope you like it!**

**-Momo ^_^**


	2. Chapter 1

**Glad you guys like it so far! here's chapter 1, hope you enjoy!**

**-Momo**

Kyoko walked alone through the school hallways to lunch. She would always eat alone in the garden, but today she saw some people were occupying her spot. Irritated, she was about to go eat somewhere else when she heard someone say her name. Curious, she silently peeked in the garden and saw Sho sitting with a group of girls surrounding him. She hid behind the wall, straining to hear their conversation.

"...your relationship with Kyoko?"

"We're not in a relationship, Erika-chan. She's just the annoying girl that lives in our inn."

"Then why are you always around her?"

He laughed. "That's because she's so pitiful that I can't stand seeing her alone. Seriously, did you really think that I would like that plain, boring, and annoying Kyoko? The maid that works at our inn? Please, even _I_ have standards."

Kyoko was furious. _How dare he belittle me like that! _She came out from behind the wall. "Oh, so that's how you think of me, huh Sho. You can rest in peace because this plain, boring, annoying maid that works at your inn won't ever bother you anymore." she stormed out of the garden, ignoring his calls to come back, and ran to an empty classroom. _That bastard, how dare he ridicule me like that?! He was always the one sticking to me, he's the reason I have no female friends! And he has the nerve to go around saying _I'm _the annoying one?! _She felt something snap inside her. The box was open, and her demons were out for blood. Specifically Sho's blood.

_Inside Kyoko's Head_

_An army of little demons gathered to plot revenge on Sho Fuwa. They looked up to their leader, who picked on people to throw ideas on how to destroy the boy that made Mistress so angry._

**_"I say we burn him over a giant bonfire!" _**_many demons cheered for that one._

"**_No! We must attack him in the night, while he sleeps!" _**_more cheers erupted from the crowd of demons._

"**_Why don't we ignore him?" _**_a small voice asked. Everyone's cheering came to a halt as they turned to look at the tiny demon who suggested the idea. _

"_**W**_**_-well that way the guilt will kill him slowly, to the point where he's almost engulfed in his sorrow." _**_some laughed at the idea, while others saw potential in the young child's train of thought. _

"**_Hmm, all very good ideas. We must discuss these with Mistress; see which one she likes best. You are all dismissed!" _**_the leader announced with authority. '_ that last idea was very interesting, though some tweaks must be added to make him suffer more.' _thinking of ways to create the perfect revenge, the leader paced back and forth in Kyoko's head, while she sat oblivious to the entire meeting._

Back to reality

After the school bell rang, Kyoko nearly ran out of the school building, dying to go to the inn and start packing. _I refuse to live in the same house as that liar, _she thought, fuming at the thought of how she used to look up to him. _In the end, I'm cursed. Everyone I love ends up betraying me. _She batted away a stray tear ferociously, trying to find some way to leave that inn. _I have savings, _she thought, _if I just work like crazy I could make enough money to get my own apartment. There are a few shops around town; I'm pretty sure if I worked enough shifts I could afford living by myself. _

Finally reaching the inn, she plastered a fake smile on her face and walked in to mass chaos. Everyone was running around, Taisho yelling at one of the student chefs for burning a meal, Okami was simultaneously talking to two people on different phones and trying to carry a basket of towels up the stairs. Seeing the predicament Okami was in, Kyoko ran up to her and took the towels, quietly asking where to take them Okami whispered, "Every bathroom." before continuing with her phone conversations. Kyoko walked up and went to her room to get into uniform. After changing out of her school clothes, she began placing the towels in the suite bathrooms, happy that no one could see her face. _I would tell Okami about what happened at school, but what's the use? She always spoils Sho, and hearing this she'll only agree with him._

She sighed and came out of the last room only to run into Okami. "What's going on? Why is everyone running around?" she asked, looking at the stressed look on the okami's face, she decided someone important was coming.

"Famous director Hatake Shin is going to be staying at our inn for 5 days. Kyoko, this man has the power to destroy our inn, which is why he must be very impressed when he leaves. I am leaving you in charge of attending his every need. Do you understand? I can't trust anyone else with this job, Kyoko. Now go change into the yukata I bought you." Kyoko bowed and went to go change. _This could be my way out, _she thought, _if I nail this, Hatake-sama could be my way out of this damned inn. _

She came out a little while later all dressed up, heading downstairs to see if she could help out with anything. "Okami-san if you have anything for me to do I am willing to he-" she froze after seeing Sho standing in the doorway, panting like he just ran home. He looked at her with regretful eyes and flinched when she glared at him while the Okami wasn't looking. _Heh, if he thinks this is the worst I can do, he's got another thing coming, _she thought, swiftly passing him and calling the Okami. "Okami-san, I'm ready. Would you like some help with anything else?"

The Okami gave her a quick look-over and smiled slightly. "Thank you for offering Kyoko, but we're basically done here. Why don't you go do your homework in the kitchen, and when Director Hatake comes I will call you." Kyoko nodded and went upstairs to grab her bag. Opening the door to leave her room, she stopped when she saw Sho standing in front of the door. He looked at her guiltily. "Look, Kyoko I-"

"Save it. I don't want to hear your lies anymore, Fuwa-san." he flinched at the way she said 'Fuwa-san'

"Come on, Kyoko, we're friends, you don't have to call me fuw-"

"Oh, we're friends? I'm sorry; I was under the impression that I was just the annoying girl living at your inn. And don't call me so familiarly, it's insulting. Fuwa-san, from this point on you are _dead _to me, understand? You. Don't. Exist." she glared at him once more, allowing her demon pressure to seep through for intimidation. He gulped, eyes wide. Suddenly, his entire demeanor changed. His face hardened, as if he were determined to do something. "Kyoko, stop this nonsense. After all we've been through, you're gonna leave me for this tiny matter?"

Kyoko's fury started coming off in waves. Her head whipped up, a few angry tears flying off her face as she gave him a heated glare. "A _tiny matter_? You actually have the _nerve _to belittle me in front of those girls only to come back and say it was a tiny matter?! I loved you, Sho! I would have spent my entire life standing by your side! But now I'm done. I won't come running back to you, Sho. I've dealt with enough betrayal in my life and I _can't take it anymore!" _

Kyoko was fuming, tears finally falling down her face freely. She panted hard, not even trying to restrain her demons as they circled around her body. Sho looked at her, at first sadly but then mildly annoyed. "Why can't you understand that I didn't mean what I said? Am I speaking in some foreign language that you don't understand?"

_He's never going to understand, _she thought hopelessly, _no matter how much I rage at him, hate him, swear to take revenge, he's never going to get it. _Wiping away her tears quickly, she looked at Sho with a sad smile. "It doesn't matter anymore, Sho. You were the reason all of the girls bullied me in school, the reason I never had any other friends besides you, the reason I would run half a mile into the woods just so you wouldn't have to see me cry. You were the one whom I put my trust in, my best friend. Remember this day, Shotaro Fuwa; for this is the last day we will speak to each other. Your existence is equivalent to the air surrounding us, I _don't see it_."

She took the opportunity to rush into the bathroom while he stood there, stunned.

Shutting the door to the bathroom, she slid down against the wall, finally letting her tears fall as she cried on the bathroom floor. _Why must you curse me like this? _She asked no one in particular, looking at the ceiling and closing her eyes, feeling the tears roll down her cheek, never ending. _I've been abandoned by everyone, Mother, Father, and now Sho. They all think I'm a useless. _She covered her face with her hands, hiccupping from crying so hard. _They have a reason to leave me; _she thought bitterly, _I'm not lovable. Who would love such a plain, boring, failure of a girl in the first place? _She sat there for a little while longer, letting the tears subside slowly. Wiping her face with a cold towel, she grabbed the eye drops from the bathroom drawer, glad she had them in every bathroom. Applying them to her eyes, she looked in the mirror to make sure she didn't look like a mess. She wasn't happy with what she saw.

Her hair was like a bird's nest on top of her head, her eyes still slightly swollen and her nose red. _Ugh, I look like I just woke up after crying all night; _she grimaced at her reflection before rapidly fixing her appearance. 5 minutes later, she looked perfectly normal. Her hair was combed and tied into a simple yet elegant ponytail, her swollen eyes less apparent after placing the cold towel on her face for a little while longer. She applied a little lip gloss to make it look like she spent all that time trying to doll herself up. _Okami-san won't notice, she's already busy enough with preparations. _Straightening herself and dusting her yukata, Kyoko walked out of the bathroom gracefully, beaming with confidence. _I have to move on, _she thought, determined to make a lasting impression on the director. _Time to start living my life the way _I _want._

Quickly going back to her room, she grabbed her bag and headed to the kitchen table, taking out her homework. _He doesn't matter to me, I don't care about him, and he betrayed me. _Focusing on her homework, she reminded herself that the famous director was going to be here any minute. Setting down her pencil, she looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes. She thought of what her fairy prince was doing. _Corn, I miss you so much, _she smiled sadly, taking out her Corn stone and holding it to the light. The color changed, and she immediately felt like all her worries were taken away. Just when she was picking up her pencil, one of the chefs came bursting through the door. Kyoko looked at him, alarmed at his frantic expression.

"He's here; Okami-san wants you outside. Like, _now._" Kyoko nodded and quickly stood up, fixing her yukata before plastering her famous smile on her face. Gracefully, she walked out the door and to the main entrance to greet their new guest.

**_See? reviews make me update faster, people! Believe it or not, i actually enjoy reading your reviews to this, it makes me feel accomplished, like i made someone smile that day. next chapter will be up soon, hopefully. I'm just in the midst of rewriting a whole chunk of the story, so it might take me a few days. Hope you like this so far!_**

**_-Momo ^_^_**


	3. Chapter 2

**I am so happy that you guys like this :) While i was writing this chapter, i tried adding a little bit of Kyoko humor, but i'm pretty sure i failed at that ^_^" **

**Before i forget, there was someone who asked if Ren and Kanae will be involved. I plan on adding majority of the main characters from Skip Beat, but we won't be seeing much of them for at least the next 6 chapters, probably even a little longer than that. I have a couple OCs that will be helping Kyoko adjust to everything, and she still hasn't left Kyoto yet so...**

**Bear with me. here you go! chapter two: Shin Hatake**

Looking at him up close was a new experience for Kyoko. He was tall, with blonde hair that shined under the light. His eyes were a dark green, and his glasses sat on top of his head, holding up some strands of hair. He wore a long black coat that came down to his knees, with black pants under that. _He's really handsome, _Kyoko thought, as she kept up her 'work' act.

"Good evening, Hatake-sama. Shall I show you to your room?"

Shin looked at the young girl standing in front of him, slightly puzzled as to why a little girl was working in an inn. _Her eyes are slightly red, her face a little swollen. Looks like she was crying not too long ago, _he mused, making eye contact with her. _Her eyes, _he thought, slightly concerned. He raised an eyebrow at Kyoko before turning to look at the Okami. She laughed a little. "This is Kyoko, one of my best employees here. She will take care of your every need." reluctantly, he followed Kyoko up the stairs and to his room. He walked into the room, looking around carefully. Then, he turned to look at Kyoko. "Kyoko-chan was it?" he smiled when she nodded shyly. "How old are you, exactly? From the looks of it, I'd say you're a little young to be working."

He watched her carefully, noticing the flash of sadness across her eyes and the fake smile on her the moment he laid his eyes on her, he knew something was different about her. _No child's eyes are like that, _he thought, wondering exactly she had been through to have such expressionless eyes. _Looks like she's hiding behind a skillfully crafted mask. Let's see how long she can keep it up. _"I'm turning 13 on December 25. I am a bit young, but Okami-san was nice enough to help me when I needed it, so I decided to work for her. And what about you? How long will your stay be? I assume you aren't staying very long, being such a famous director and all."

She turned to fix one of the pillows that were misplaced. Shin was impressed by her talent. _Turning the attention from herself to me in a subtle manner, flattery to make it look like she's trying to learn more about me, very impressive. _"Yes, I will be here for about 5 days. I was wondering, what are some things I can do around here? What are some things you enjoy doing in your free time?" _let's see how she plays this one. _

Kyoko was freaking out on the inside. _Why is he asking so many personal questions? Is there some sort of ulterior motive to this?! _Calmly, she turned her head towards him, smiling at the question. "You could go mountain climbing, biking, or hiking. I personally enjoy hiking, though I don't have much free time for fun. If you would like, tomorrow I can show you some nice biking routes and hiking spots nearby."

She looked at him, trying to see if he had any other motive behind his questions. He had one brow arched up, looking as if he were impressed. He smiled a genuine smile before saying, "I would love that. Does 9:00 work for you?" Kyoko nodded. _Tomorrow's Saturday, so I have the day off anyways. I'll let the Okami know about our plans. _Bowing, she left the room smiling. _That man is surprisingly very nice. Shame I won't see him after his vacation is over._

Walking downstairs, Kyoko informed the Okami of tomorrow's plans that Shin had, and how she would be his escort. Okami frowned slightly, but Kyoko was determined to show the man around. _I don't think I can keep pretending to be happy in this place knowing I could run into Sho at any time, _she thought, grabbing her dinner plate and going to her room. She ate in silence before changing and going to sleep. _I hope my dreams aren't too chaotic tonight; I have a busy day ahead of me, _Kyoko thought before drifting into slumber.

_- - - - - - - - - .oO- - - - - - - - - -_

_Kyoko looked at Corn with sparkling eyes. "Can you fly higher Corn?"_

_He looked at her with a sad smile. "Sorry, Kyoko-chan, but every time I try to spread my wings, they just get torn to shreds. Father's hands are too big for me to fly over." _

_Kyoko looked down before smiling brightly again. "Don't worry, Corn, I know one day you'll be able to spread your wings and fly as high as you want. You're the prince of fairies, right? So one day you'll become big and strong enough to fly away from your father's hands and become king. You'll make a really cool king!" and she went off into her fantasies of how Corn would rule the fairies with justice and compassion._

Kyoko woke up smiling. _Looks like I had a good dream last night, but I can't seem to remember what it was, _she thought, looking at her alarm clock. "8:30?! NOOO!" she jumped out of bed and into the shower. _How could this have happened?! I set the alarm to 7:30, why didn't it wake me up! I'm gonna be late! _Throwing on some decent looking clothes, she went downstairs for breakfast to find Hatake-sama nearly done eating. She looked mortified. _Noo! He must think I'm unable to keep promises! He probably hates me by now! What am I gonna do?! _She quickly schooled her features, putting on a smile before walking down the steps nonchalantly. "Good morning Okami-san, Taisho-san, Hatake-sama. I hope you rested well." she bowed slightly before grabbing her breakfast plate. Looking at the table, the only available spot was right across from Shin. She mentally screamed from the frustration, taking her seat and beginning her breakfast quickly.

Shin, although not much of a morning person, woke up early that day. _I thought Kyoko-chan would be up by now, _he thought, looking at his watch. _It's already 8:00, maybe she's up and still taking a shower? Wait a sec, why am I so concerned over this girl? She's just the extremely young worker that the Okami sent to be my maid. _He sighed, mentally smacking himself. _She's too mature for her age. Never in my life have I met a child with such lifeless eyes, _he thought, thinking back to their conversation the previous night. _She has the potential to be a very talented actress if she polished that hidden talent of hers. _He looked down at the food he barely touched. _This actually looks very good, _he mused before digging into his breakfast.

Almost done, he noticed someone coming down the stairs. Looking up, he saw Kyoko staring at him with a horrified look on her face. He laughed a little, covering his mouth to hide his smile. He continued watching her secretly; amazed at the way she hid her emotions and smiled, coming down the rest of the way. Conveniently, the only spot available was right across his seat. He watched amused as she sat in the chair as if she was about to die. He cleared his throat. "Ahem, Kyoko-chan? What time do you think we should go? I have a meeting around 7 tonight, so if it's too far then we can leave as soon as you are finished." she looked up after setting down her chopsticks.

"The place isn't too far, probably a half a mile from here. If you would like, we can leave as soon as I'm done eating." she looked down at her watch. "It's 8:50 right now. I can have the backpacks ready by 9:00, so we can leave whenever you want."

_Hmm, _he mused, _it looks like she's done this before. Earlier we leave, earlier I can get back. _"Okay, I'll go change my clothes and meet you by the front entrance in 10 minutes." she nodded as Shin went upstairs. Waiting until he was out of sight, she let out the breath she had been holding. _Okay, Kyoko, you got this, _she thought, trying to eat as fast as possible without choking. _All you have to do is make the bags for the two of you and you're home free! _She quickly went upstairs and grabbed the army camouflage bags sitting in the corner of her room. Taking them, she filled each with Granola bars, bandages, water bottles, visors, and her eye drops, just in case something happened. _Its mid-September, it's not cold enough for jackets yet, _she thought, contemplating whether she should pack some gloves or not. _Well, they could help with grabbing rocks and such, _finally deciding that packing them would be best. Quickly changing into short-sleeved dark green t-shirt, khaki shorts, and grabbing her combat boots, she took the bags downstairs. She took out her visor and put it on her head. Slipping on her boots, she ran to the bathroom to grab a hair tie and tied her long black hair into a ponytail. Walking to the main entrance, she stood for about 10 seconds before Shin showed up behind her.

Shin was pleasantly surprised when he saw Kyoko all dressed up and ready to go. _She's a hard worker; it's only been 5 minutes since I went to change. _He started walking towards her, wearing a loose camouflage shirt, khaki shorts, and combat boots. Looking at what Kyoko was wearing, he laughed, startling her a bit.

She turned to look at what was so funny, when she realized that they were wearing matching clothes. Noticing this, she started laughing as well. "What a coincidence, ne Kyoko-chan? Seems like we both brought the same clothes for today. It's almost like we're father and daughter." he joked, immediately regretting it when he saw the painful look that crossed Kyoko's face. _Damn, looks like I hit a land mine, _he thought, waiting for an answer.

Kyoko, on the other hand, was reminded of her painful life. _Father and daughter, huh? _Quickly putting on her fake smile, she looked at Shin who looked slightly ashamed. "Yeah, I hope no one confuses us. Let's get going, here's your bag." she handed him his backpack and started walking out the door. Once they were out, she turned and pointed to the woods. "Our destination is in there!" she announced, marching towards the woods. Shin could only laugh at the way she spoke, as if all her worries had faded away. "Come, Kyoko-chan, let's go!" he mimicked her tone and started marching with her, laughing the entire time.

About halfway through the woods, Shin looked and saw Kyoko in her own dream world. Smiling softly, he poked her arm. "What are you daydreaming about, Kyoko-chan?"

She jumped a little, waking from her dazed state. "Oh, nothing, Hatake-sama. I was just thinking of all the memories I have in these woods."

"Enough with this 'Hatake-sama' business. Either call me Hatake-san or Shin-san." he scolded playfully. "And can you tell me about these memories you've had here? Seems like you come here quite often." he looked at her, genuinely curious.

Kyoko smiled fondly, remembering all the times she would play with Corn in these woods. "Well, I met my first crush by a little stream in these woods. We would have so much fun playing tag or hide-and-seek, just having a good time. He was my fairy prince." she smiled sadly. "He wasn't here for long, but the 2 weeks I spent with him were the best memories I have. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I went with him," she trailed off, waiting for Shin to start laughing at her. When she didn't hear anything, she turned to look at him. "You aren't going to laugh at me?"

He was taken aback. "Why would I laugh, Kyoko-chan?"

She twiddled her fingers, looking everywhere but at him. "Aren't you going to tell me that it's stupid to be thinking things like that? Or being stupid enough to fall in love after knowing someone for only 2 weeks?"

He chuckled. "No, Kyoko-chan, because I know for a fact that regrets people have are never stupid. And love comes spontaneously, don't you know? There's nothing wrong with falling in love in such a short amount of time. I would know, I married my wife a month after we met." _though my circumstance was a little different, _he thought. "Kyoko-chan, can you show me the place you met your friend?"

She immediately cheered up, bouncing a little as she walked through the branches with ease. Shin followed her silently, listening to her many stories with her friend. Suddenly the trees gave way to a beautiful little waterfall leading into a stream. Grass surrounded the area, and a little ledge stuck out a few feet above the stream. _It's beautiful, _he thought, taking in the magnificent sight. "Kyoko-chan, how did you find this place?" her eyes hardened for a second before going back to the lifeless look from before. She looked at the ground before speaking, hesitating a little.

"I...wanted to run away one day, so I ran into the woods trying to escape when I tripped and fell into the water. I decided to stay there for a few hours, and it became my favorite place to go to whenever I felt sad." _I'm lying through my teeth, _she thought, trying hard to keep herself from crying. _I'm sorry, Shin-san, I don't want to do this but I can't afford to tell you about my life. _

_She's lying, _he thought, noticing from the way she hesitated before speaking and the way her face contorted in pain for a split second. "Sweetie, I know you are lying. You look like you want to cry."

She looked at him as if all hope was lost, one lone tear falling from her eyes. "What's wrong?" only after he asked that question did Kyoko notice that she was crying. "Oh, why am I- this is so embarrassing." she broke into sobs as Shin comforted her. Pulling her into a hug, he rubbed her back slowly, trying to cease the tears. "Shh, it'll be alright. Will you tell me what happened? I promise I won't hurt you or use this against you in any way." she looked up at his genuinely concerned face, understanding that all he wanted was for her to cheer up. _I don't know why, but this man's presence makes me want to tell him everything that's happened, _she thought. She told him everything, from the day her father left 7 years ago, to her scary mother, to Sho's betrayal. "I-I've just been left behind by s-so many people, I c-can't do this anymore!" she cried into his shirt, holding onto the older man for her life. "I can't do this anymore." she whispered.

They stayed like that for a few hours. Hearing the young girl's story, Shin was speechless. _What kind of heartless people have she been living with?! _He wondered, furious at the way she had been treated all her life. _It's no wonder her eyes are so lifeless, she's been left alone by everyone she cared for. _Hearing her breathing slowly evening out, he whispered, "Kyoko-chan? I was planning on going a few places today, would you like to join me? I want to show you that there's a lot to life if you know how to find it." she lifted her head and nodded, too exhausted to say anything.

Shin smiled and looked at his watch. "Great, it's almost 11. Why don't we head out of the woods and into town to get something to eat, okay?" Kyoko slowly stood up, going to her bag discarded next to her and taking out the eye drops, glad she packed them. Shin gaped at her as she applied them to her red eyes. "Do you cry often?"

"Define often."

Shin was furious. "What kind of people have you been living with?" he muttered, looking at Kyoko with a worried expression. "Will you be okay?"

Kyoko straightened, nodding confidently. "I've actually never told anyone this, so it feels nice to get it all off my chest. Let's go, I know a shortcut to town." the two started walking back into the woods in comfortable silence. Shin thought of how he was going to introduce Kyoko to the cast, hoping they would accept her as his guest for the day. Kyoko wondered how she was going to tell the Okami that she cried on their special guest, making his shirt all wet. Both walked side by side, each in their own thoughts.

Shin was the one to break the silence. "So what was your friend's name? The one you met by that stream."

Kyoko smiled. "Corn, my fairy prince."

Shin looked at her, confused. "Corn? As in the food?"

Kyoko nodded enthusiastically. "Yup, that's what he said his name was, at least."

Shin tried to hold back his laughs. "Kyoko, are you sure his name wasn't Kuon? In America they pronounce it like 'Corn'."

Kyoko looked at him in horror. "So you mean-I was-I've been saying his name wrong for all these years?!" Shin laughed nervously. _She looks like that guy from the Scream painting, _he thought. Suddenly, looked up at him, completely forgetting why she was so upset. "Oh, how do you know that they pronounce it differently in America?"

Shin smiled. "Actually, Kuon is the name of my brother's son. He's probably 4 years older than you, so 18? 19 perhaps? I dunno, I haven't seen him since he was 8. Cute little kid, blonde hair and blue eyes, always saying that he wanted to one day grow up just like his daddy." he said, chuckling at the thought of his little nephew.

Kyoko smiled a little, remembering how Corn would always talk about his father, the king of all fairies. she turned to Shin. "You know, Corn was always telling me how great his father was, but because his father's hands were too big. Every time he tried to spread his wings and fly, they would get caught in his father's hands and get torn to shreds."

Shin frowned. _what? I have to talk to Kuu sometime. this is the first I heard of this, i wonder if he even knows about it. I bet Kyoko-chan still thinks they're two different people, so I think keeping her in the dark about this would be best. _Shin smiled and flicked her nose. "How far are we from the bakery? I'm really hungry."

Kyoko smiled before turning to look ahead. She heard a few cars in the distance. "Come on, Shin-san! We're really close!" the two eagerly made their way out of the woods, watching some cars pass by. To their left, the inn was off in the distance. To their right, a bunch of little shops and bakeries were scattered around. Dusting off their shorts simultaneously, Kyoko and Shin laughed before walking to the closest bakery, about half a mile away from where they stood.

-o0o-

"Shin-san?"

"Mm?" he looked down at Kyoko who was playing with her fingers.

"C-Can you tell me what your family is like? Or how the entertainment industry is, if you aren't comfortable with talking about your family."

He was a bit surprised at the question, but then he smiled softly. _Of course, after she told me her entire life story she would want to know more about me, _he thought. "Well, I married my beautiful wife 6 years ago, Mao Hatake. She's also in the entertainment business, but she's a make-up artist. We live alone in an apartment in Tokyo." he paused, trying to figure out how to approach the showbiz question.

"Now, as for your question about showbiz, the answer will be different from every person you ask. Personally, I love my job, and that's what makes it worthwhile. If you love what you're doing, it doesn't matter what sacrifices you have to make. But just between you and me, I absolutely _hate _paparazzi and journalists. They make your life a living hell."

Kyoko giggled at the secretive manner he said the last part. Shin smiled as well, looking at the bakery that was only one block away. He smiled mischievously at Kyoko. "Race you." and took off running to the Bakery. Kyoko ran after him, shouting, "hey, no fair! You got a head start!" the two raced to the front of the bakery, Shin beating Kyoko by a few seconds. They stood there, huffing and puffing before Shin smiled victoriously. "Ha! I win!" Kyoko glared at him.

"No fair! You had a head start!"

"Come on, Kyoko-chan, don't be a sore loser." she stuck her tongue out at him while he just stood there and laughed. "Come, let's go inside."

The Bakery gave off a very welcoming feeling. The walls were a warm brown, the smell of coffee surrounding them. They were ushered to a table where the waitress took their order.

"I'll have a coffee and strawberry shortcake. Kyoko, what do you want?"

"Um, I'll have a chocolate milkshake please."

After the waitress left, Shin looked at the way Kyoko sat. _Pin straight if I say so myself. _"Kyoko-chan, why don't you loosen up? It's just us two, you can relax."

She looked confused. "What do you mean, Shin-san? I am relaxed."

He raised an eyebrow. "Look at how you're sitting. Prim and proper, pin straight. It doesn't look very relaxed to me."

She looked at the way she was sitting and smiled sheepishly. "I guess all that training Okami-san gave me kinda stuck. I've been working with her since I was 6." she kept sitting that way, eagerly waiting for her milkshake. Shin looked at her, amused. _Man, this girl has been training for 6 years! Of course her posture would be like that of a rich girl, _he thought, coming out of his thoughts when he saw the waitress bring their food. He thanked the waitress and ate a slice of his cake.

"So, Kyoko-chan, would you like to go into the entertainment industry?"

She choked on her drink. Coughing a little, Kyoko looked up at Shin. "Come again?"

He chuckled. "I said, would you like to go into the entertainment industry? Honestly speaking, you have a natural talent for acting, and it would be wasted if you didn't use it. What do you say?"

Kyoko sat with her mouth wide open. "y-you're joking right? A famous person like you thinks _I _have acting ability?" she sat there speechless as Shin nodded enthusiastically. "I don't know, Shin-san. I've never really considered acting, and I'm not quite sure if I will be able to do the job properly."

Shin propped his elbows onto the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Why don't you come to the meeting with me today and decide for yourself? I won't force you into anything, but I just figured you might want a fresh start, considering all the, bad, memories you have here in Kyoto."

Kyoko was astonished. _This is my chance to leave, but I'm not sure if I can handle becoming an actress. I've never been good at anything besides cooking in my life, who's to say I'll succeed in acting? _The scarred part of her brain rejected the idea, but the spontaneous part of her wanted so badly to agree. _This is the perfect chance to move on, away from Sho, that horrid inn, the annoying fan girls. I could finally start fresh. _The part of her that wanted so badly to move on won. "Okay, I'll come with you to the meeting."

Shin smiled brightly. "Great! There will be a bunch of people there, and I think I know just the person to help you relax your posture. You look like some stuck up rich girl with your completely tight position, no offense." Shin looked at his watch. It was almost 12:30. "Kyoko-chan, if you're done, why don't we go back to the inn? I'll call a car." He signaled the waitress to bring the bill as Kyoko finished the last of her milkshake. "Okay, but who exactly is going to bring this 'car' of yours?"

Shin smiled evilly, catching Kyoko off-guard. "Just wait and see. Patience, my dear Kyoko-chan, is a virtue." he said in a fake 'wise-old-man' voice, making Kyoko giggle a little. Taking out his phone, he dialed the number. "Hey, Mori! How ya been? I heard you took a plane to get to Kyoto. You didn't freak out, did you? Hah, serves you right!" Shin kept talking to Mori while Kyoko just listened, curious at the things they were talking about. "Okay Mori, can you do me a favor? So I've found a girl with a natural gift for acting, and I want to bring her to the meeting." he winked as Kyoko blushed at his compliment. "Yeah, mhm, is that it? Great! Oh, one more thing, I'm here with my recruit in a bakery and we don't have a ride back to the inn. It's a long story, so if you really want to know you could bring over your car and we can talk about it in the car?" he said in a hopeful voice. "Awesome, you're the best, Mori! We're in the Sakura Bakery. See you soon!" he shut the phone, smiling at his friend's silly antics. Looking up, he noticed that Kyoko was dying to know who that was, but was too afraid to ask. "That was a really good friend of mine, Mori Kimura. We met in high school and ended up being great friends. He's a big-time producer, and we're both here for the meeting regarding a new movie based off of a book."

Kyoko looked interested. "What book is it based off of?"

Shin laughed a little. "Well, I can't tell you just yet. You'll see when we go to the meeting." looking out the window, a black mustang pulled into the parking lot, a man was waving in their direction from inside the car. Paying for the food, the two walked outside and into the fancy car, Kyoko sitting in the back and Shin sitting up front.

"Hey, Shin! How ya been?"

"You know, the usual, trying to think of this as a vacation instead of a business meeting."

Mori laughed. "Yup, that's Shin Hatake for ya!" looking in his rear-view mirror, he studied Kyoko closely before turning and smiling at her. "Hello! I'm Mori Kimura, one of Shin's friends. May I ask what your name is?"

Kyoko shifted in her seat nervously. _I'm in the presence of such famous people, _she thought. "I'm Kyoko Mogami. Nice to meet you, Mori-san." she bowed her head a little. Mori turned back towards the steering wheel and started backing out of the parking lot.

He decided to talk to her a little, just to see how well she could handle under pressure. "So, Kyoko-chan, I hear you are a very talented actress. Have you taken any classes or practiced acting on your own?"

Kyoko was happy to be sitting in the back. _He's testing me, _she thought, catching on to his interrogating tone as soon as he asked the first question. _Trying to intimidate me to see how much I can take, eh? Well, two can play at that game. _She smirked for a second before switching to her work mode. She answered with a small smile, "No, I have not taken any classes. Actually, I would have never guessed that I have a talent for acting until Shin-san brought it up today. I've wanted to try something new, so I decided to follow him around while he was in town before making any final decisions."

Mori was impressed. _She can handle such a question with ease, and yet she was still bashful when she introduced herself to me. Shin, looks like you really picked up a diamond in the rough this time. _"That's good to hear. Will you be joining him tonight at the meeting?"

_He wasn't fazed at all by that, _she thought, thinking fast. _I'll just have to up my game, then. _Allowing the slightly cynical part of her to take over, she answered, "Yes, if they allow me to come, that is."

He smiled at the girl's answer. _She's curious, but not too straightforward. Make others answer her questions without having to ask in the first place. Okay, let's go with it. "_Of course, letting unauthorized people come to such an important meeting would usually not fly. But because this is Director Shin, I think you will be able to come to the meeting as long as the cast knows you're here with him. Get a pass; sit a little bit off to the side, no one will even notice you don't belong."

Shin listened to the conversation quietly, knowing this was Mori's way of testing the girl's abilities. He knew Kyoko was good for her age, but being able to keep up with Mori once he got going was a difficult feat. _Go get 'em, Kyoko-chan._

_That was an attack, _she thought, thinking back to when her father would be talking with clients at home.

~~~Flashback~~~

_Kyoko peeked through the door at her father sitting with some scary old man, talking about things she didn't understand. Her father spoke first. "Fujioka-san, I would love to help you, but I have my own company to worry about as well. It isn't a politically wise decision to deal with non-officials, as you know. And economically speaking, giving you such a sum of money would be unwise, when I could use that same money to invest in a growing company rather than a failing one, don't you agree?"_

_Kyoko watched as the older man her father called Fujioka-san stood up abruptly, looking furious. He looked at her father before spitting out the words as if they were venom. "Sorry to disturb you, Mogami-san. I didn't mean to waste so much of your time. If you will excuse me, I shall take my leave now. "The man stormed out of the room, driving away in his fancy car. Kyoko ran out to her father, curious as to what just happened. "Daddy, why was that old man so mad?"_

_He looked at her softly. "Well, what I just did was attack him indirectly. That means I said something mean about him, but I didn't say I was talking about him out loud. If I did, that man would have hurt your daddy."_

_She looked at him with her innocent hazel eyes. "But Daddy, why did you say something mean about him? And if you didn't say you were talking about him how did he know?"_

_He looked at her sadly. "Kyoko dear, sometimes bad people come to you and ask you for stuff. When they don't leave you alone, you have to stick up for yourself and make them leave, and sometimes you have to be mean to do that. Attacking a person indirectly is the nicest way to get rid of bad people, I promise. I didn't want to do it, but sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do. Don't ever forget this, okay Kyoko? People will try to attack you indirectly, but you just have to hit them back twice as hard, okay?"_

Kyoko smirked, happy her father had taught her that valuable lesson, even if it was the only lesson that stuck in her brain. "But of course, I would only expect that much. What about you, Mori-san? Will you be joining me in the corner of the room? I will be very lonely and would very much appreciate your company."

_Ouch_, Shin thought as he turned to look at Mori. He was sitting there with his mouth hanging for a second. He stayed silent for a minute as he parked behind the inn. Then, he smiled widely and started clapping. "Well done, Kyoko-chan! I didn't expect you to be so talented! Where did you learn to indirectly attack people like that?"

Mori thought her comment stung a little. _She's implying that I would be just a big an eyesore as she at the meeting, well played Kyoko-chan! _He wanted to laugh so badly at that point, being outsmarted by a kid. As all three of them got out of the car, he saw Kyoko's demeanor change from completely confident to humble within seconds.

"My dad owned a business and I would always watch him deal with clients at home. One day he taught me how to figure out how to detect a veiled attack as well as turn it back on the person who threw it at me."

Shin gaped. "Wait a sec, Kyoko-chan. didn't you say your father left when you were 6?"

Kyoko looked at him with a small frown. "Yeah, but he would always sit down with me after each of his clients left and talk about what took place in the meeting. He stopped doing that a few months before I turned 6, but I remember every single lesson we had together. It's one of my fonder memories as a child." the last part came out bitter to Mori's surprise. Shin looked at his friend's shocked expression, remembering that he was in the dark about Kyoko's past. Mori pulled out his phone and checked the time. "Well guys, it's already 1:00, and I still have to get back to the hotel to get ready for tonight. It's actually not too far from here. You guys want me to give you a ride?"

Shin smiled and accepted his friend's offer. Shin was turning to leave when he remembered something. "Oh, before I forget, Kyoko-chan, all the insults I threw at you in the car were only for the sake of testing your will, nothing more. Please don't take them to heart, I didn't mean to offend you in any way. Well, I'll be back in a few hours. Ciao!"

Shin and Kyoko waved as Mori backed out of the parking lot, driving back towards town. They went back into the hotel and greeted the Okami and Taisho before Shin went up to his room to change into something more comfortable. The Okami pulled Kyoko aside. "Do you know how long you've been out, young lady? I've been worried sick! And who was that man who drove you two home?"

Kyoko put up her mask again, smiling nervously. "That was Hatake-sama's colleague. He said he wanted to eat some pastries, so I took him into town to the Sakura Bakery. Coincidentally he saw his colleague there and they started talking. He offered to bring us back, and Shi- I mean Hatake-sama said he was too tired to walk back." Kyoko cursed at herself for her slip-up. _If Okami-san found out I called him Shin-san she'd throw a fit, _she thought, hoping the older woman wouldn't notice her mistake. Luckily, Shin decided to come down to talk to the Okami about recruiting Kyoko.

"Ah, Okami-san, Taisho-san, do you mind if I speak to you in private?" Okami nodded and led them to a secluded room where they all sat, waiting to hear what Shin had to talk about.

"You two are Kyoko-chan's guardians, right?"

Confused, the Taisho nodded slowly. "What does this have to do with anything?"

Shin looked at him, dead serious. "I would like to recruit Kyoko-chan for acting, as well as adopt her as my own."

He let that sink in before he started speaking again. "She has a natural talent for it, and personally I feel that this talent of hers would be wasted if she just stayed here all her life. I am asking for your permission to take her with me to Tokyo where she could pursue an acting career."

The Okami looked absolutely stunned. _When did Kyoko ever show any interest in acting?_ She wondered. Finally gathering the courage to speak, the Okami said, "Is this what she wants?"

Shin looked at her with a smile. "all she wants is to be happy, and honestly speaking I don't think she is happy here after everything she's been through. You know what happened with her family, right?" he watched the older couple nod, continuing to speak. "She carries around eye drops wherever she goes. If that isn't a sign that she isn't happy, I don't know what is."

Taisho finally decided to speak. "and what of this adopting business?"

Shin's smile wavered for a split second. "You see, that is the main reason Kyoko-chan isn't involved in this conversation."

**i feel really evil right now :} but rest assured, i am going to try updating at least twice a week after i've run out of pre-written chapters. cuz like right now i have enough written to last me for 2 more chapters.**

**I have a feeling the first few chapters are kinda short, so i commbined what was supposed to be chapters 2 and 3 into one big chapter. tell me which one you guys would prefer, chapters like this one or chapters like the first few?**

**Leave a review. I just made cookies :)**

**-Momo**


	4. Chapter 3

**you guys are awesome. cookies for everyone who reviewed! I read every single review you guys leave, and for those of you who signed in as guests, i may not be able to reply to you but i appreciate your feedback!**

**Someone asked me if Shin was older than Kuu or younger (sorry, can't remember your name right now). I've decided to make him younger than Kuu by about 5 years. it isn't specified in the manga how old Kuu really is, but we know that he was a famous actor in Japan for 20 years before going to America. i'm making him 47, so Shin is 42. sorry for any confusion people!**

**Here you go, Chapter 3!**

* * *

Kyoko was sitting in the kitchen, smiling at the day's events. _Shin-san is so nice, he's just like the father I never had, _she thought, suddenly realizing what she was thinking about. She shook her head. _What am I thinking? Father left years ago by his own choice, and even then his last words to me were "I'm not your father". What did he mean when he said that? Was he too ashamed to be my father?_

She sighed, slightly depressed. _Of course he was, I'm such a failure nobody wants to be with me. Not even Shin-san, who is super nice, would want to take care of such a useless person. _She started playing with her backpack straps, wondering what they were talking about in the meeting. _It's obviously something he didn't want me to hear about, so it probably has to do with his stay or something._

The door opened and Shin came out. He stopped next to her and patted her head, smiling reassuringly. "You've done well, kid. Believe in yourself, I know you can do it."

He walked away, leaving a slightly confused Kyoko watching his retreating figure. She looked behind her and saw the Okami and Taisho standing in front of her with unreadable expressions on their faces. Kyoko frowned.

"Okami-san, Taisho-san, what's wrong?" she stopped talking when Okami's hand came down to her shoulder.

"Kyoko-chan, do you really want to go into acting?"

Kyoko's eyes widened by a fraction. She hesitated for a second before nodding confidently. "Okami-san, I appreciate everything that you and Taisho-san have done for me so far, but I feel like I have to get away from this place. It has too many uncomfortable memories for me to live peacefully with. I have not decided anything yet, but there is a meeting that Hatake-sama has asked me to join. I will attend the meeting and then decide whether I want to pursue acting as a career."

Kyoko looked at the elderly couple, hoping they would understand that this was her decision. The Okami looked up, tears in her eyes. "Is it true? That Sho, he-" Okami couldn't say anymore for fear of sobbing uncontrollably. Kyoko's eyes widened, shocked that Shin would tell them everything. She looked down.

" Yes, he was indirectly the reason why I was so miserable. Though I never noticed until two days ago, when I caught him saying I was the annoying maid living here to a bunch of the girls that bullied me. I don't hold either of you accountable for his actions, he is his own person. Thank you for everything, from giving me that part time job all those years ago to letting me stay here. I really owe you two a lot." She hugged the older woman and Taisho, smiling.

"You two were like the parents I never had. And I won't ever forget you guys. If I do decide to go with Shin-san, I would like your permission first. It's only fair that I have your blessing after everything you have done for me."

Taisho smiled at her. "If you really want to, you have our blessing. But if you ever think it's not working out, we'll accept you with open arms."

Kyoko smiled, hugging the elderly couple once more before bowing to them formally. "Thank you so much! It means a lot to me."

Okami wiped away her tears and looked at Kyoko with a smile. "Kyoko-chan why don't you go pick out an outfit for tonight. Hatake-sama said you were going to meet some people from his agency tonight. Oh, when you come back we'd like to talk to you, if you're free."

Kyoko smiled brightly and nodded, skipping up the stairs, happy she got her pseudo-parents' permission to go into acting.

_I can't believe he told Okami-san and Taisho about what happened with Sho, _she thought, pacing in her room. _Their reaction was the complete opposite of what I had imagined, as if they knew he was the one at fault. _Looking at her alarm clock that read 1:47, Kyoko walked into her closet and tried finding something nice to wear. _Hmm, let's see what I have here. _She opened her closet and let out a blood curdling scream, looking at her wardrobe in horror.

"I have the yukata Okami-san gave me and my school uniform?! IS THAT IT?! NOOO!" Kyoko dropped to the ground, drowning in her despair. _How could this have happened? I'm starting to regret not spending a little money on myself, _she thought, swimming in her own depressing thoughts. _What's Shin-san gonna say when I come down in my school uniform? He'll hate me for sure, and then I won't even have a chance at becoming an actress. What am I gonna do?! _

Shin was about to go downstairs for some water when he heard someone shriek. Then, he heard Kyoko shout, "IS THAT IT?! NOOO!" Assuming the worst, he ran around the hall, desperately trying to find the room where his little tag-along recruit was. After trying every room on that floor(and accidentally seeing some things he didn't want to see), he came across the last room all the way in the corner. Sprinting towards the door, he slammed it open to find Kyoko crying on the floor, the yukata wore the day before and a school uniform scattered on the ground. "What happened? Why did you scream Kyoko-chan?"

Quickly snapping out of her thoughts, Kyoko sat up and finally noticed the worried man standing over her. she looked down. "I don't have anything to wear for tonight." She answered meekly, shutting her eyes tight. _Please don't hate me, _she thought, praying silently.

Shin sighed in relief, causing Kyoko to open her eyes. Then, he started laughing maniacally, falling on the ground and holding his stomach while he laughed. Kyoko glared. "You think this is funny? I'm over here freaking out about the meeting and you're laughing?"

Shin controlled his laughter enough to form a coherent sentence. "I was worried some sort of serial killer was in your room, and it turned out it was just you freaking out about clothes. Why do you have such little clothing in your closet?"

She looked at him as if the answer were obvious. "I don't have the money to waste on new clothes and make-up, unlike the other girls in my class. All my money's going towards my tuition and then the rest I was saving for a rainy day, such as buying train tickets and running away." He looked at her, astonished. "You were planning on leaving this town from the beginning?"

Kyoko hesitated before nodding. "I was planning on getting away from my old house, and if that meant going as far away as Tokyo then I was willing to go. Though the original plan was to get an apartment for myself, but that was before Sho," she trailed off, becoming gloomy. Shin stood up and pulled her hand.

"Come on, let's go somewhere." Shin pulled her out of the room, dragging her downstairs where he asked the Okami if there was a car he could borrow. "Of course, where are you planning to go?"

"The mall. Where's the closest one?"

Okami smiled. "It's about 5 minutes from here. Actually, it's on the same street as Sakura Bakery. Kyoko, you know where it is, right?" Kyoko nodded, quickly putting on her shoes before running to catch up to Shin. Quickly getting in the red Toyota Corolla, she looked at Shin, absolutely baffled by his split second decision to go to the mall. "Shin-san, why are we going to the mall? Oh, take a left at that signal." She asked while giving directions. He just smiled, making Kyoko nervous.

"oh, you'll see when we get there." he tried to laugh evilly before choking on his spit, sending him into a coughing fit. Kyoko laughed.

Pulling into the surprisingly empty parking lot, Shin got out of the car, taking Kyoko's hand. "Come on, we're going to get you dolled up."

"Wha-" Kyoko had no time to process what he said because he quickened his pace, walking into the first store. Shin looked at Kyoko, trying to decipher her size, before running off towards a bunch of dresses.

He ran around the store like a hurricane as Kyoko stood in the corner and watched him fly all over the place. _I hope he doesn't buy too much, I don't want to burden him with having to pay for all my clothes, _she thought, worried at the growing pile in Shin's arms.

Shin, however, was in a tight squeeze. _I hope these clothes fit her,_ he thought, piling on one dress after another. Finally, after he couldn't hold any more clothes in his hands, he waddled over to where Kyoko was standing, looking around the room. "Kyoko-chan! Help me," He cried, knees slightly shaking. _Take the bait, take the bait, _he thought, hoping to guilt-trip Kyoko into trying on some clothes.

Kyoko, being the helpful person she is, ran to aid her mentor by grabbing a bunch of the clothes he had in his hands. He smirked. "Kyoko-chan, now that you're holding those clothes anyways, why not try them on?" Kyoko's eyes widened in realization at what just happened. She glared at him. "You tricked me! That's not fair!"

"All's fair in love and war, my dear Kyoko-chan. Hurry up, we have to find you the perfect outfit before 6:00. I have to get ready too, you know." Kyoko grumbled, but walked to the changing rooms, trying on the outfits. She came out, wearing a navy blue strapless dress with a cream mini jacket. Shin smiled a little at the outfit.

"Hang that after you've changed out of it. Go try on the next one."

This process continued until Kyoko finished trying on all the clothes except one. This time it wasn't a dress, but a light pink halter top with frills and a dark gray pencil skirt. _Wow, this is perfect, _she thought, trying on the outfit and looking at her reflection in the mirror. She came out wearing the outfit, smiling. Shin looked at her and smiled brightly. "That kid doesn't know what he's missing out on, sweetie. Do you like it?"

She nodded. "Okay, that's what you'll wear tonight. Go change so I can pay for it."

Kyoko protested. "No, Shin-san, I couldn't possibly have you pay for this. It's too expensive!" despite her objections, Shin won in the end.

"What were you planning to wear to that important meeting? Your school uniform?" Kyoko became quiet, reluctantly letting the older man pay for the clothes. Shin smiled triumphantly. "Okay, now why don't you go look for some shoes, the ones you're wearing right now are pretty old, right?"

Kyoko looked down at her tattered sneakers, her toe almost coming out from the front. She smiled sheepishly. "Okay, but I'm going to pay you back. I won't burden you with any more expenses." Kyoko walked to the back of the room where the shoes were. When Shin was sure she was far away from the changing rooms, he snuck into the one she was in and grabbed all the clothes he told her to put on the rack. Smirking, he walked to the front desk and pulled out his credit card to pay for the 12 dresses sitting in front of him.

Kyoko came back with a pair of black flats she found on sale to find Shin paying for all the clothes she had hung on the rack on his behalf. _I should have known there was something fishy with the way he made me hang only some of them, _she thought, marching up to him at the front desk. "What are you doing, Shin-san! I don't need that many dresses! Just this one will be fine!" she protested vehemently. Shin looked at her nonchalantly and took the shoes she was holding out of her hands. "Can you add this too?"

Kyoko sighed, exasperated at the older man's behavior. "I promise I'll pay you back for this, Shin-san."

Shin looked at her after grabbing the many bags of clothing, highly amused at her frustration. "Kyoko-chan, you're like a daughter to me. I'd never make you pay for this. Consider it a gift from me, and the only way you could possibly repay me is by being happy and enjoying life to the fullest." He flicked her nose playfully. "Come on, we have to go to one more place before heading back to the inn."

Kyoko followed him curiously into a hair salon. He summoned one of the stylists, watching as a relatively young woman came out from the back room. "you guys can do make-up as well, right?"

"Yes, we're mainly a hair salon but we have a tiny section for people who want to get their make-up done."

He smiled. "Perfect. Now, I have this outfit for her," he pulled out the pink top and pencil skirt to show the woman. "And I need her hair styled and make-up done. You think you could do all that in an hour? I'll go get ready and then pick her up by 6:30. It's a formal event, but she's still young so don't go overboard on anything, okay?"

The stylist smirked, taking on the challenge. "Of course, Sir. Sweetie, come this way." She ushered Kyoko into a room where she could change into the outfit. After that, the lady took her outside to fix her hair. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kyoko Mogami. Nice to meet you, stylist-san."

The older woman giggled. "You can just call me Amaya. Where are you going with your father? Some sort of fancy party?"

"Actually, he isn't my father. He's my mentor, and he wanted to take me to some really important meeting tonight. I didn't have anything to wear, so he took me shopping. Although he isn't really my father, I look up to him as if he was my father."

Amaya raised her eyebrows, picking up a pair of scissors. "Oh, I'm sorry; I assumed you two were related. He seems like a nice guy. When did he become your mentor?"

"This morning. He said I have a talent for acting and recruited me when I was at work."

Amaya looked at her, surprised. "How old are you? You seem a little young to be working, you know." She picked up the curler.

Kyoko smiled. "I get that a lot. I live at the Fuwa inn, so I work to help out the Okami."

The woman smiled, finished with Kyoko's hair. "Here, do you like it?"

Kyoko looked at her reflection and smiled widely. Her once tangled black hair now came a little bit lower than her shoulders, curled softly and framing her face perfectly. She looked at Amaya. "It's perfect. You are amazing!"

Amaya smiled, accepting the compliment. Then, she went to the drawer and pulled out a make-up kit. "Let's get you dolled up before your mentor arrives."

Quickly and skillfully doing Kyoko's make-up within 15 minutes, she stepped back and looked at the results. Kyoko's pale cheeks had a little blush, complimenting her heightened cheekbones beautifully. Her eyes had grey eye shadow that faded into pink and black eye liner, making her eyes pop. Her pouty lips were painted with a shiny pink lip gloss, making her look absolutely stunning. Amaya whistled. "You look amazing, Kyoko-chan. Take a look for yourself." Kyoko started squealing in delight at her appearance. "I look just like a princess! Thank you so much, Amaya-san. I look amazing!"

A minute after Kyoko was ready; Shin came to pick her up. He was wearing a deep purple dress-shirt and black dress pants. His blonde hair had cowlicks, bangs almost covering his forest green eyes. His thin, black-rimmed glasses were on his face, and he was looking at his watch. "Shin-san, I'm ready."

Shin looked up and looked at Kyoko, gaping at her appearance._ That Fuwa boy has no idea what he left behind, _he thought, looking at her elegant black curls that delicately framed her face, her pink frilly top that complimented the pencil skirt she wore perfectly. He smiled at her. "That idiot kid has no idea what he let go of, Kyoko-chan. Let's go." The two got into the car and started pulling out of the parking lot. Shin's phone started going off: creepy music started playing that reminded Kyoko of the movie _Jaws._ Shin smiled. "it's Mori! Oh wait, didn't we tell him we were gonna ride in his car?"

Kyoko looked at him, suddenly remembering that tiny factor. Shin picked up the phone. "Hello?" loud screams came from the other line, forcing Shin to hold his phone as far away from his ear as possible. "Sorry Mori, Kyoko didn't have anything to wear so we kinda went shopping in the spare car at the inn. Okay, relax; we'll be there in a minute." Shin quickly hung up the phone, laughing with Kyoko at their predicament. Suddenly, Kyoko remembered something. "Oh! I forgot something at the inn. You mind if I quickly get it when we pick up Mori-san?"

Shin nodded. "Sure, but you need to make it quick. I called the President before we went shopping to let him know I was bringing you, and he said to come 10 minutes early. We'll make it on time, just barely though."

Parking in front of the main entrance, Kyoko quickly got out of the car and ran upstairs to her room. Opening the bathroom drawer, she took out her eye drops and quickly put it in her tiny pink purse. _Who knows what'll happen there, _she thought, packing them just in case. She took a deep breath and went into 'professional mode', oozing with confidence as she walked out of her room.

Turning at the corner to the main entrance, she bumped into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry."

The boy patted his clothes a little. "No, it's completely my fault. I wasn't look-" they both froze when the boy lifted his head. _Why did it have to be him of all people, _Kyoko swore inwardly, glaring at Sho? He just stood there, mouth hanging open.

"Kyoko, when did you-" he was completely shocked, unable to say anything more. She turned her face away before speaking.

"I am running late. I don't have time to waste with useless beings." She said it in such a tone that Sho couldn't say anything to defend himself. Kyoko swiftly walked out the door, leaving Sho standing alone. His face turned red. _When did she become so hot?_

Kyoko sat in the front, irritated. Shin and Mori were talking, completely ignoring her existence. Shin pulled out of the parking lot, driving towards the freeway.

"Why didn't you call earlier?"

"I did, you just didn't pick up the phone, stupid!" Mori was pouting in the back seat, crossing his arms.

"Wait a sec, I left to get Kyoko-chan 10 minutes ago and I didn't see you here."

"Yeah, you were too busy changing radio stations that you didn't see me waving my arms at your figure driving away!"

Kyoko giggled, gaining the attention of the two bickering men. Shin spoke up first. "Kyoko-chan, who do you think is at fault here? Me or him?"

"Shin-san, obviously it' your fault. He called you many times and waved at you when you were coming to pick me up, you just weren't paying attention."

Mori rejoiced in the back while Shin pouted. "Come on, Kyoko-chan, isn't it his fault for not telling me when he was coming?"

"Why are you asking a 12 year old girl to solve your problems?" Kyoko asked, eyebrow arched and a teasing smile on her face. Both men became silent before all three of them erupted into laughter.

Mori spoke. "What took you so long, Kyoko-chan?"

Her mood suddenly darkened. "Something annoying kept me from leaving the building."

Shin looked at her with a frown. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

Kyoko shook her head. "No, he just stood there and stared at me. Heh, I guess he didn't expect me to look like this. That look on his face was satisfying." She leaned into her seat with a smug look on her face. Mori looked between the two of them, completely clueless as to what they were talking about. "Uh, care to enlighten me on who 'he' is?"

Kyoko turned to look at him with a smile. "The Okami's son, Sho. He was my best friend and my only friend. He was really popular in school, so the girls would ignore me because I spent so much time with him. The other day I overheard him talking to some of the girls and claiming I'm just an annoying maid living in his inn." She felt the fury radiating off of Mori. _That bastard. How dare he do something so cruel to someone as sweet as Kyoko-chan? I swear if I ever meet this kid I'm gonna beat him to a bloody pulp! _Mori was absolutely shocked speechless.

Shin took the opportunity to change the subject. "Kyoko-chan, I almost forgot to tell you. At the meeting, our boss is going to be there, President of LME Lory Takarada. The meeting is taking place in his villa, so you should be prepared to meet very important people today. Remember one thing: the most attractive thing you could put on is a layer of confidence. Trust in your abilities, and just have fun." Kyoko nodded, forgetting what happened in the inn.

Mori turned to look at Kyoko. "Do you go to fancy parties often? I wouldn't have guessed you would have something so perfect for this occasion."

"No, not at all. Shin-san took me to the mall and bought me this because I didn't have anything to wear. I'm not exactly what you would call popular, and with my tight budget I can't afford to buy fancy dresses or make-up."

She said it nonchalantly, but Shin could tell this was killing her inside. _You don't find people that can keep their innocence after going through so much, _he thought, glad that Kyoko was still an innocent little 12 year old in her heart.

Mori sat quietly as the two talked about this 'Sho' person. _It would be kinda weird if I just started asking random questions, but we have about 30 minutes to get to the villa, so might as well make use of it. _Looking at Kyoko through his rear-view mirror, he asked, "by the way, how old are you? 14?"

Kyoko laughed a little. "No, I'm only 12. Though it makes me feel nice to think that I look older than that." She smiled at his obviously shocked face.

"T-twelve?! No way! You act so mature for your age, and you obviously know how the world works after beating me at my own game a few hours ago. Are you some sort of rich kid?"

"No, though Shin-san did say that my posture makes me look like I am. I work full time at the inn where I live. I used to live alone in the gloomy house next to the inn, but the Okami found out and said I could stay with her. I am really grateful for everything she's done for me." She smiled sadly, trying not to remember all the bad experiences she had while living alone.

"Wait, how long were you living alone?"

"Um, about 3 years I guess."

"WHAT?! 3 years?!" Shin and Mori completely forgot that they were in a car and gaped at the girl until they almost crashed into a truck driver. "Aah!" Mori quickly swerved the car, barely avoiding the collision. Kyoko sat horrified after almost dying in the back seat. Shin, who had recovered fastest, spoke up. "Kyoko-chan, how did you fool everyone into thinking you weren't alone for that long?"

Kyoko smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "Well, my mother and father would always go on business trips, leaving me alone with a nanny. I just told anyone who asked that they were on a business trip and would be coming back in a week. The Okami had made some sort of deal with my mother a long time ago, so I would spend most of my time at the inn playing with Sho before pretending that the nanny was waiting for me at home. I worked part-time at the inn, so the money I made was spent on buying a nice bike and getting groceries for food. Nobody would have found out if Sho hadn't decided to hide in my house that one night."

"Why did you buy a bike?"

She laughed. "How else was I supposed to bring home food? I couldn't carry it all by myself and walk home, now could I?"

Mori nodded before deciding that he should join the conversation as well. "What do you mean hide? Was he staking out in your house without you knowing?"

Kyoko frowned. It wasn't a memory she liked to think about. "Well, he said his dad had broken his guitar, so he ran away and hid in my house, hoping to stay there for a few days with me and the nanny. I was fixing myself some food when he came, and I didn't notice him come in. I started complaining about how hard it was to live by myself, and he heard me. He ran off and told his mom that I was all alone in the house, and the Okami said that it wasn't proper for a girl to live by herself at such a young age. I ended up telling her my mother left a few years back, and she became my guardian."

"But what about parent teacher meetings? Wouldn't your teacher ask you where your parents are?"

"I told the principal about how my dad worked abroad and how my mom was always leaving on business trips, leaving me alone with the nanny. He said that the Fuwas would be considered as my guardians and would come to parent teacher conferences."

"And they went along with it? Wouldn't they know if their neighbor was raising a child by herself?" Shin asked, extremely curious as to how Kyoko pulled it off.

"Yeah. Mother had told the Fuwas that my father wouldn't be around because he got a job in the States, so they played a huge role in helping me keep my secret."

Mori pulled into the parking lot of their boss's villa. _Boss said this was for the sake of privacy, but I think he chose this place because he hadn't been here in a while, _Mori thought, bracing himself for what he knew was about to come. Stepping out of the car, he turned to tell Kyoko about their boss's eccentric attitude when he froze, mouth wide open. He saw Kyoko stand up straight, brimming with confidence as she fixed her hair using the window as her mirror. _Wow, she looks amazing, _he thought, completely at a loss for words. "Kyoko-chan?"

She turned to look at him with her innocent hazel eyes, her mouth slightly open and her eyebrow arched up beautifully. He let out a low whistle. "First of all, you look absolutely breathtaking today. If I hadn't met you earlier today, I wouldn't be able to tell you were the same person." He smiled after seeing her blush.

"Thanks, Mori-san. You look very nice too." She finally had the opportunity to see what Mori actually looked like. His short black hair was spiked up, his icy blue eyes expressive. He was wearing a midnight blue dress shirt and black dress pants. _He's tall, _she thought, noticing how even though he was bent over a little, she still had to look up to talk to him. _He's gotta be taller than Shin-san. And his skin's a little darker too. _He smiled before becoming serious. "Second, you are going to be meeting our boss today. I must warn you, he is not exactly what you would call-" He was promptly cut off by Shin who effectively silenced him by punching his gut. Mori screamed as he comically slammed into the ground 10 feet away, leaving a body-shaped imprint of where he fell. Mori growled, looking up at his attacker who just smiled at him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Shin asked with a seemingly pleasant smile, but it gave Mori chills to see that look turned onto him. _Uh oh. _"I was warning your recruit of what she might deal with today."

"Exactly. If Boss wanted her to know what to expect, I would have already briefed her about it in the car. Now stand up, you look absolutely ridiculous lying there on the ground like that."

Shin walked away leisurely towards Kyoko who was looking at the two with a mix of amazement and concern. Amazement at the fact that one punch could make a man fly so far, and concerned about poor Mori.

"What was that, Shin-san? Why did you punch him?"

"Because there was a bee by his stomach and he's allergic to bees. I just saved his life." Shin felt bad for lying to her, but he knew she couldn't find out what Boss was like. _He said he wanted to see how well she can handle pressure, even after going through Mori's interrogation session. Apparently seeing how she reacts to his eccentricity will give him an 'accurate representation', _he thought, mocking his Boss's tone. "So, as he was saying, what you should expect is a room filled with a lot of high-ranking officials all wondering what a child is doing at such a top secret meeting. Don't worry, they're all nice people." He smiled a little, hoping Kyoko would believe his little act.

To his relief, she nodded enthusiastically; scrunching up her face into what he thought was a very concentrated look. Laughing a little, he poked her tiny, scrunched up nose. "If you go in looking like that everyone will think you're some sort of weirdo. Come on, let's go." Those two walked inside, followed by a pouting Mori. _Are you alright, Mori? Yeah, I'm fine, you know, it's not like I just got punched in the gut or something, _he thought sarcastically, running to catch up with the two by the door. The older men looked at the doorknob apprehensively, bracing themselves for what was behind the double doors.

Kyoko looked at them, confused as to why they were so nervous to open the door. _They're probably afraid of their boss, _she thought, taking the initiative to open the doors herself. Shin and Mori watched in horror as the girl standing between them slowly opened the door. "No, Kyoko! Don't open the-" but it was too late. The doors swung open, and none of them could have imagined what was waiting for them on the other side.

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**I finally figured out how to add the horizontal line! anyways,the emotional/sentimental parts of the chapter seemed a little flat to me. tell me watcha think, I look forward to hearing from you people!**

**Anything you think seems a bit off, just tell me. i'm open to any suggestions, and if you have questions feel free to ask! **

**I made cupcakes this time, so leave a review!**

**-Momo**


	5. Chapter 4

**Sorry guys, this chapter is a little shorter than the others. I would have made it longer, but i realized i'm all caught up with the already written chapters so i'm keeping it a bit short. hope you still like it, i had fun writing this chapter :) and thank you for your reviews! they mean the WORLD to me. oh, as for your questions and guesses, keep 'em coming. they make me reread the story and continue to fix plot holes and stuff, but i won't be saying "oh you're real close" cuz i dont want to leak anything out (and because i'm writing this as i go). **

**I originally was going to post this chapter tomorrow, but i didn't want Nerala to miss this. think of it as a good luck present from me :)**

**Before i forget, i need to add a disclaimer :) I do not own Skip Beat or Disney's Aladdin! if i did they both would suck :P**

**enjoy chapter 4!**

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Kyoko stood at the entrance, trying her best to keep her jaw from dropping to the ground. About 10 elephants were trumpeting in pairs, walking side by side as a giant blue balloon of something Kyoko couldn't decipher yet floated in between them. In the middle of all this chaos was a man dressed up as Aladdin, sitting on a purple carpet that was placed under a vent so it looked like he was hovering in the air. A tiny monkey sat on his right shoulder, eating a banana. _Oh my god, it's Disney's Aladdin! _Kyoko wanted so badly to go into her own fantasies, dreaming about where Jasmine was waiting for her prince Ali to come sweep her off her feet. _Oh, the tiger and the genie are missi-_she completely froze, remembering the giant blue balloon floating above her head. Slowly looking up to confirm her suspicion, she saw that the balloon was indeed the genie that came from the magic lamp. Kyoko smiled widely, looking at her surroundings.

Everything was Arabian themed; with the belly dancers in the corner to mysterious snake charming man dressed up like an Arabian Desert man in the back of the room. Turning her head to the other side of the room, Kyoko saw a giant tiger chasing Shin and Mori around the room. She laughed at the sight, quickly pulling out her phone and taking a picture quietly. _I'm never letting go of this one, _she thought, amused by the entire décor of the place.

Quickly remembering the real reason she was here, Kyoko cursed inwardly. _Oh, shoot! Their boss could be anyone in this room! What did Shin say his name was again? Larry Tobirama? _Kyoko quickly went into work mode, schooling her features with a pleasant smile on her face, as if the entire thing were a game she enjoyed.

Walking to Aladdin, she smiled and held out her hand. "Hello, Mr. Aladdin. I'm Kyoko Mogami, Shin-san's guest. May I ask who you might be?"

Lory looked at the girl, impressed at the way she regained her composure. _She was gaping at the door for some time, but if I hadn't been watching that door like a hawk I wouldn't even know that she was in her own fantasy a few seconds ago, _he thought, stealing a quick glance at his best director and producer, he sighed. _Those two could learn a thing or two from this girl, _he thought, amused by the fact that she called him Aladdin. "Nice to meet you, Mogami-kun. I am the one who coordinated this entire show. I don't really like my name, it seems so bland when compared to being called Aladdin." she giggled. "May I ask what brings you here, young lady?" he asked in a slightly intimidating voice, trying his best to treat her as if she were a client that walked into his office.

_Whoa, his aura is so commanding, as if his presence is making me want to run away, _she thought, slightly overwhelmed by the intimidating aura surrounding the two of them. Even still, she continued, giving him her best smile. "Actually, I was Shin-san's tour guide for the day when he told me I had a talent for acting. I decided to give it a shot, which is why I am here. If you don't mind, I think those two over there are in quite a predicament," she said, pointing to Shin and Mori who were still being chased by the tiger. She looked at him with a sheepish smile and said, "They wanted to talk to you for a bit, but I don't think they know how to stop your, uh, tiger."

Lory raised his eyebrow slightly, his lip twitching upward for a second before going back to his neutral look. _This girl, has she caught on that I'm the president of their company or is she just guessing? _"What makes you say they want to see me? I'm just Aladdin, no one special."

Kyoko smiled, smirking inwardly at that twitch. _Gotcha!_"Well, they said that the meeting was going to be in their boss's villa, and frankly I don't think such a powerful man would let anyone but himself decorate this villa according to his tastes. Don't you agree, Takarada-san?"

Lory pulled out the whistle from his pocket and blew on it twice. Looking over to where Shin and Mori were running, Kyoko saw the tiger suddenly stop, and then started running towards her. Caught off guard, Kyoko jumped out of the way just in time, watching the tiger lick Lory's face. He started clapping his hands, smiling at Kyoko who just stood there still slightly traumatized from the tiger nearly jumping on her.

"You've done well, Mogami-kun. I wasn't expecting much from a 12 year old, but I can see that you know more than your years may say. I should formally introduce myself: I am Lory Takarada, President of LME entertainment and your mentor's boss. It would be an honor to have you join us at LME, Mogami-kun." Turning to Shin and Mori, he said, "Shin, you really found a diamond in the rough this time. And Mori, your little interrogation session earlier today was phenomenal, completely spot on. I'm trusting that you two will be able to take care of her for the meeting. Lucky for you, no one else has arrived, but they should be showing up right about," he started a countdown. "Three, two, one."

Almost as if on cue the doorbell started ringing. Looking outside he saw 4 or 5 people standing at the door, waiting for him to open up. Lory smiled, signaling everyone to go back to their places before opening the door. The entire show started again, starting with the elephants going to greet their guests. Lory pulled out a tiny tablet and laughed at his worker's faces. "Oh, this is priceless!"

Kyoko, Shin, and Mori all sweat-dropped, trying their best to stifle their laughs. After recovering from seeing their co-stars frightened to death, Shin and Mori started walking over to the recovering guests, pulling Kyoko along with them. Shin looked at her and smiled. "Okay, Kyoko-chan, this is where you have to up your game a bit. The people we are about to meet are very famous, high-ranking officials. Treat them like you treated me when we first met: cool, calm, and collected, but don't give away too much information. Though I have a feeling you were going to do that anyway," he added, watching Kyoko's dreamy innocent face turn to a professional one in an instant. He raised his eyebrow, wanting to confirm his suspicions when he heard someone calling his name.

"Shin-san, we will be starting the meeting in 5 minutes. All unauthorized personnel will have to wait upstairs while the meeting takes place." Shin rolled his eyes at the uptight man standing before him. He was middle-aged, with his hair slicked back and his glasses glinting as he pushed them up, obviously referring to Kyoko. Shin smiled at the man. "Well, its good that there isn't anyone that isn't authorized in this building, now isn't it Masao-kun?"

_Looks like this guy doesn't want me in, _Kyoko thought, going into cynical mode. Standing next to Shin, she waited for the perfect moment to scar-I mean convince, the man to let her through. _But now I'll just let Shin-san do the talking. _Masao was looking at her, obviously irritated by her presence. "You do realize this meeting is top secret, and only members involved in the matter are allowed into that room, right Shin?"

Shin nodded, still smiling. "Oh you aren't referring to Kyoko-chan over here are you? Don't worry, she's with me. I have good reason to bring her to this meeting, and I'm sure you will find out soon enough. Kyoko-chan, why don't you introduce yourself to Masao-kun?"

Smiling sweetly, she held out her hand to the man standing in front of her. "Hello, Masao-san. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am Kyoko Mogami, Shin-san's recruited actress. President-san told me about you when we were talking earlier today. You see, Shin-san and I showed up early because President-san wanted to talk to me about what was taking place in the meeting. I'm sure you have enough room to squeeze me onto the table. Unless you would prefer coming to fetch me when President-san asks of my absence for today's meeting?" she arched her eyebrow at the last sentence, giving off a threatening vibe. Masao glared at her, but stepped out of their way as they walked into the meeting room.

Shin looked at her, extremely impressed and slightly frightened at the same time. _This girl has a knack for bully roles, despite her usual kind appearance, _he mused, trying to think of a different character the young girl could play. _A rich girl could work too, Or maybe a businesswoman. _He continued thinking about different characters she could play when he spotted the one person he was hoping to meet. Smiling, he started walking briskly towards the beautiful brunette standing in the corner wearing a pale orange blouse and a black skirt that went down to her ankles.

"Arisa-san! How are you?" Kyoko watched as her mentor started walking over to a beautiful woman in the corner of the room. She turned to look at him, her chocolate eyes full of life and her wavy long hair bouncing on her shoulders. She smiled at him. "Shin-san, I haven't seen you in so long! I am good, thanks for asking. And how are you? Who is the little cutie standing behind you? Your daughter?"

Shin laughed. "No, she isn't my daughter. I recruited her for acting this morning. She has amazing talent, but it only shows up when the circumstances are just right. I have a feeling you two will get along well."

Arisa turned her attention towards Kyoko who was blushing slightly. She smiled warmly. "Hello, Recruit-san. I'm Arisa Sato, a model for RMandy. And what might your name be?"

Kyoko relaxed. _I don't have to act all sophisticated around her, _she thought, finally letting her guard down slightly. "I'm Kyoko Mogami. It's nice to meet you Arisa-san."

Out of nowhere Arisa squealed a little and hugged Kyoko tightly. "Oh my goodness you are just adorable! Shin where did you find such a cute girl? I could just eat you up!" Kyoko laughed a little as Arisa fussed over how cute she was, looking at Shin for some sort of clue as to what was going on.

Shin looked at Kyoko's predicament, laughing a little. "Don't worry too much, Kyoko-chan. She's always like this." He watched as Arisa slowly let her go, standing up straight and fixing her blouse. She looked at Kyoko with interest.

"So, Kyoko-chan, do you like make-up and shopping sprees?" Arisa smiled widely at Kyoko's dreamy reaction. "Looks like you and I will get along beautifully." The two giggled, not even noticing Shin go to the other side of the room with a mischievous look on his face. _This'll be good for her, _he thought, walking away from the enthusiastic women talking about girl stuff.

Meanwhile, Arisa was watching Kyoko's posture very closely. _She hasn't relaxed her muscles at all since coming into the room, _she thought. _She looks like some sort of stuck-up rich kid with such a straight back. Unless..._"Kyoko-chan, do you work at the Fuwa inn?"

Confused, Kyoko answered slowly. "Yeah, I started working part-time there when I was five, and have been working full time for 6 years now. But how did you know that I worked there?" she watched Arisa nod her head, as if everything made sense to her now.

"Well, that explains your posture. My parents are friends with the Okami, and they're always going on and on about how she has the world's straightest back and how they feel bad for the next Okami. No offence, but you look like some sort of stuck-up rich kid standing like that. Why don't you loosen up a little?" Arisa watched Kyoko sigh.

"Right now, I'm standing how I usually do. I've been working with the Okami for so long, I guess I considered this as normal. Trust me, I've tried relaxing, but it looks completely unnatural." Arisa smiled a little at the younger girl's predicament. Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Kyoko-chan, are you busy tomorrow?'

"Not really. I think I'll just be deciding whether I want to go with Shin-san to Tokyo or not. I'm still a bit iffy on the subject. This is my home, and I'm a little reluctant to leave without good reason."

Arisa nodded, smiling. "Well, why don't you tell me what you think after the meeting's over, okay? I like you a lot, and it would be sad if we didn't keep in touch, ne?"

Right on cue, President walked into the room, the tiny monkey still on his shoulder. He took his seat, ushering everyone else to sit down as well. Kyoko found a spot in between Mori and Shin and across Arisa. She looked to her left, seeing that Lory was only 3 seats away from her. She watched everyone else take their seats, all suddenly turning very serious. She took this as her cue to go back to 'professional mode'. _I should name them something cooler, like give them a character name. calling them modes is so lame, _she mused, coming out of her thoughts when the President started talking.

"Today I have gathered you all here to discuss the making of a movie for the famous book _The Darkest Minds. _I assume everyone in the room has read the book?" everyone in the room nodded, including Kyoko. _I just finished reading that book last week! It was absolutely amazing, no wonder they want to make a movie about it, _she thought, trying her best to stay professional, slipping out of character slightly. President, Shin, and Arisa all noticed her ecstatic face, smiling a little.

President continued, "I have scripts that Sebastian will pass around right now." Kyoko was surprised to see the snake charmer from earlier stepping out from the shadows with relatively thick packets, passing them to every person sitting at the table. Kyoko looked at the cover, reading the fancy letters that spelled out _The Darkest Minds._

Not sure whether she should open the packet yet or not, she turned to look at Shin for a second, watching as he started flipping through the script. Taking that as permission to read the contents, she opened to the first page which listed the character names. There were the two main characters, Liam and Ruby, followed by the supporting characters: Chubs, Zu, etc. Reading the first scene, she was impressed. _This could be a really good movie, _she thought. _If the characters portray the roles properly, this will be a huge success._

"Director Shin, can you think of any person who would fit any of these character descriptions?"

He thought long and hard, but in the end he shook his head. "I can't think of anyone who could fit these roles, sadly. Do you think we should hold an audition?" Shin looked at the president, wondering if he had anyone he would like to recommend for the roles.

"I think auditions should be arranged. Does anyone oppose, claiming a certain person would best represent a certain role?" he looked at every individual sitting at the table, not seeing anyone against the idea of auditions. He continued, "Well, do you think a month would be sufficient to create the characters?" almost everyone agreed, except Arisa and Shin. President looked at Arisa first, asking for an explanation.

"I think giving them a month to prepare the role is too long. 3 weeks should be sufficient enough to create their characters, and if not then I don't think they are fit to play the role."

Shin nodded. "I agree with her. A month seems like way too long to give a person to prepare such a role. And yet, giving them only 2 weeks seems like not enough time. 3 weeks should be enough to test their abilities to create the role and know every little detail about their character."

Lory looked at the rest of the table. "I see the point you two are trying to make. How about announcing to the public about the auditions next week on September 23, and then hold the auditions October 16? That way, it would be less than a month and more than 3 weeks. Does everyone agree with that?"

This seemed reasonable to everyone, and the date was set. Continuing to the next order of business, Lory started speaking again. "I know some of you are wondering why I called you all here for such a matter that could be solved within half an hour. This is the real reason I have gathered you all here."

Kyoko stood up, stretching her tense muscles after sitting in that chair for so long. _That meeting was interesting. If I did go to acting, I would definitely be joining LME, _she thought, walking over to where Arisa and Mori were talking.

"But that doesn't mean he's middle aged, you know." Mori spoke.

"Just look at his face! He must be at least 37." Arisa countered. Kyoko stood in between the two, watching their conversation closely.

"That isn't middle aged, Arisa. Even I'm older than that."

Arisa smacked his head. "Who are you to call me Arisa? We aren't that close, stupid!" Mori rubbed his head, finally noticing Kyoko standing there. He smiled at her. "When did you get here, Kyoko-chan?"

"About 2 minutes ago. I didn't want to disturb your conversation, so I just stayed quiet."

Arisa patted the girl's head. "You know, Kyoko-chan, in the entertainment industry you have to do whatever it takes to grab everyone's attention. You want people to notice you, to turn and be like 'who's that girl over there?' So whenever you go anywhere, make your presence known. Like President." they all turned to look at their president who was animatedly talking to Sebastian. They sweat-dropped. "My point is, every time he walks into a room you know it's him, right? With his flamboyant elephants or marching band, his eccentricity makes him stand out. Remember this lesson; it will help you very much in this industry." Arisa poked Kyoko's nose. "Have you decided anything yet?"

Kyoko looked at her with a sheepish smile. "No, not yet. I haven't seen the beauty of going into this industry just yet, though this meeting was incredible. It gave me a look behind the scenes, but I still haven't seen the actors doing their thing, if you catch my drift."

Arisa nodded, completely understanding what Kyoko was looking for. She smiled, looking at Kyoko. "Why don't we step out from behind the camera and into the spotlight." She grabbed Kyoko's hand, taking her to where Shin was standing with some other people. "Hey Shin, you mind if I borrow Kyoko-chan for tomorrow? I wanna take her some place where she can actually see the magic of LME." Shin looked at her with a frown before nodding slowly. "But make sure you talk to her guardian about this first. I had permission for today, but I'm not sure what work she has to do when going back to the inn." Arisa nodded eagerly before running off with Kyoko. Shin sighed. _If it wasn't her I wouldn't have said yes. Take care of her, Arisa-san._

Kyoko looked at Arisa. "Where do you want to take me tomorrow, Arisa-san?"

"I have a modeling shoot tomorrow and I'm sure they wouldn't mind if I brought you along. Who knows, we might even get to take some pictures together." She explained excitedly. Kyoko's mood suddenly brightened. _I get to watch Arisa-san model! Maybe she can help me act natural too,_ she thought, hoping no one else would mistake her for some sort of spoiled rich kid. "Um, Arisa-san?"

"Yes, sweetness?"

"I was wondering if you could help me look more relaxed. Or help me not look like some sort of rich kid."

Arisa chuckled. "Oh of course! Actually, I have nothing to do for the rest of the night. Why don't we help you out at the inn?"

Kyoko nodded happily. _Yes! This is going to be so much fun! _She thought, almost jumping with joy. Looking behind Arisa, she saw Mori and Shin coming towards her.

"Hey, Kyoko-chan! We're about to go back to the inn, let's go." Mori said while Shin pointed towards the door.

"Actually, Arisa-san said she wanted to come to the inn with us." The two men looked at Arisa who was making a 'thumbs up' with both her hands.

"Yup! I brought my own car, so why don't you two lead the way while I drive behind you with Kyoko-chan." She put her arm around Kyoko's shoulder and gave them both a look they couldn't oppose. Sighing, they grumbled and motioned for the two ladies to follow them. Arisa and Kyoko walked out with their heads held high, Arisa walking like a model and Kyoko like a princess. Arisa led her to the silver Volvo parked behind Shin's car.

Kyoko was awed at the sight of such a beautiful car. "Wow, Arisa-san. How do you keep it so clean? It's practically blinding me."

Arisa laughed. "I have people who get it washed every week. Come on, get inside." Kyoko sat in the front with Arisa, watching the older woman skillfully drive out of the parking lot behind Mori's car.

* * *

**Okay, if you guys haven't read the Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken, i suggest you do so. it is amazing!**

**Prez making a grand entrance, like always :) i figured that going Disney themed would be good cuz Kyoko loves princesses and stuff, and my favorite princess movie is Aladdin. and Sleeping Beauty. and Cinderella. on to other business, another OC added to my growing list of OCs, yay! **

**oh, if you got my Naruto reference, 1) . and 2)slice of pie for you, my friend ;)**

**but yeah, i've been taking first names and last names from a ton of other manga, anime, and cartoons, so if you want to try guessing where i found the character names i'm game. i love doing stuff like that, it amuses me :)**

**Warning: i will be away from my house after wednesday, so no updates for a week :'( don't worry, i'm gonna be writing on my trip so i have something to present to you after i come back. **

**-Momo**


	6. Chapter 5

**sup! just got back from New York, and let me tell ya, it was CRAZY. i barely had any time to breathe, let alone write. but lucky for you guys, i love you too much to go back on my promise. i wrote this before i left and sent it to my beta reader, and i got half of chap. 6 written down in my journal. school is annoying, so i won't be able to do daily updates like before, but hopefully i can at least get 2 chapters in a week.**

**Shout out to regulusgal. happy birthday!**

**enjoy!**

* * *

"Arisa-san? How long have you been modeling for?" Kyoko asked, wanting to know how many years of experience the older woman had. _She doesn't look very old, probably in her late 20s, _she thought, looking at the older woman expectantly. Arisa scrunched up her face in concentration.

"Hmm, I started modeling when I was 19, but I've been in the entertainment business since I was 16. So that means I've been modeling for 11 years, and I've been with LME for 14 years. Man, it seems like yesterday I showed up for the auditions," Arisa mused, surprised at how long she had been working.

"Wow, that's amazing! What did you first apply for when you joined LME? Acting?"

Arisa smiled. "Yes, I did apply as an actress. Though after doing a few small jobs, being an extra, a minor character, stuff like that, I was asked for a modeling shoot, when I realized how much I loved modeling. I've been with it ever since."

Kyoko looked at her with sparkly eyes, obviously fantasizing something about the older woman. _A young girl trying out acting, not extremely passionate about her job, called for a modeling shoot where her true abilities are found. So beautiful, just like a princess! _Arisa chuckled at the girl's expression, smiling at her fondly.

"What about you? Are you sure you want to go into acting?"

Kyoko hesitated a little. "To be honest with you, I never even considered joining the entertainment industry. Shin-san says I have talent, and I'm willing to try it out. I just want to get as far away from this town as possible. There aren't many fond memories of this place, and the times when I enjoyed living here are long gone." Her voice became bitter as she finished speaking. Arisa looked at her with a mix of curiosity and concern.

"You sound like something is driving you away from here. Do you want to talk about it?"

Kyoko sighed. "You could say that." She spat out, glaring at nothing in particular.

They drove in silence for a little bit, neither sure of what to say. Arisa reached over and turned on the radio, cheering up when she heard her favorite song playing on the radio.

"Kyoko-chan, have you heard of Imagine Dragons?"

She shook her head sadly. "I never really listened to music. Sho was always writing new songs and I just helped him with that. Are they good?"

Arisa squealed. "Are they good? They're great! My favorite song is this one, called Hear Me. They're an American band, but the music touches my soul." She dramatically put her hand on her heart, making Kyoko giggle. She listened to Arisa sing along with the band

"_I've said it before_

_I won't say it again._

_Love is a game to you,_

_Let's not pretend_

_Maybe if I fall asleep I won't breathe right"_

Kyoko felt the words cut deep into her soul. He laughed a little. _It was just a game to you, wasn't it Sho? _She continued listening to the rest of the song.

_"Can nobody hear me?_

_I got a lot that's on my mind_

_I cannot breathe,_

_Can you hear it too?"_

Kyoko decided it wasn't going to help if she continued to think about her past, so she turned to Arisa, clapping at her little performance. "Wow, Arisa-san, you're really good at singing." She smiled, taking the compliment.

"I'm not that good, Kyoko-chan. Besides, I wouldn't want to become an idol any time soon. I can't read a music page for my life." Arisa looked at Kyoko, suddenly concerned. _Why is she crying? _"Kyoko-chan, what's wrong? Was it something I said?"

"Huh?" she looked and saw that there were tears falling down her face. "I'm fine, Arisa-san, just give me a minute to pull myself together." Arisa watched Kyoko try to wipe away the tears, but it was useless. They wouldn't stop falling. _Wait a second…_

"Kyoko-chan, was it the song? Did it remind you of something painful?"

Kyoko shook her head. "No, it's not that. I just remembered something from my past, and I couldn't contain my tears I guess. Don't let this bother you, I'm perfectly okay." Kyoko hoped Arisa would just drop the matter. She really didn't feel like talking at the moment. To her relief, Arisa nodded, focusing on driving.

"Okay, if that's what you want, I won't ask what happened. Just know that if you ever need someone to talk to, give me a call. I don't care if it's at 2 in the morning; if you need someone to talk to I'm always available."

Arisa handed her a handkerchief. "Use this; I'm sure you don't want your make-up running, right? Just dab at your tears."

Kyoko thanked her, wiping away the tears before opening her purse and taking out the eye drops. Arisa watched her try to apply them in the car. _She keeps eye drops in her purse? What kind of life has this poor girl lived?! _Arisa decided not to ask, trying her best to focus on the road. _If she doesn't want to tell me it's okay. I don't want to force her to spill everything after knowing each other for a few hours._

The radio was still on, Arisa realized, leaning over to turn it off when Kyoko's tiny hand stopped her. "Can you leave it on? I really liked that song. Do you know what's on next?"

Arisa smiled, happy Kyoko liked the music. "Sadly, I don't know what song is on after this. We'll have to wait and see."

They listened as a different song came on, Linkin Park blazing on the screen. Arisa looked confused. _I haven't heard of these guys, but the music sounds pretty awesome. _Kyoko was thinking almost the same thing, eager to hear the lyrics.

"_I'm tired of being what you want me to be_

_Feeling so faithless,_

_Lost under the surface_

_Don't know what you're expecting of me_

_Put under the pressure_

_Of walking in your shoes."_

Kyoko's eyes widened. _Who the hell is playing these songs?! Are they freaking psychic? _Memories of her mother started replaying in her head. She shuddered as the music played, remembering all those times she disappointed her mother.

_"What is this?!" Kyoko flinched, looking away from her mother's harsh glare._

_"I lost everything because of you, and the best you can do is get an 87?! What a failure! I wish you were never born!" she raised her hand, bringing down on Kyoko's face with a harsh slap. Her ring cut into Kyoko's cheek, blood trailing down her face. Kyoko backed into the wall, terrified. "M-mother, I promise to get 100 next tim-" she screamed, her thigh burning where her mother kicked her with her stiletto heels._

_"Next time? Such a failure doesn't deserve a second chance!" Tears were falling off of Kyoko's face, serving to enrage Saena even further. She grabbed Kyoko's short hair, pulling at it painfully as her daughter writhed in pain. "You _dare _show your tears in front of me?! You don't have the right to cry, brat! All you ever do is disappoint me. Can't you ever do anything right for once?!" she pulled young Kyoko's hair once more before letting it go._

_"I wish I killed you before you were even born! FAILURE!" Kyoko ran out of the house, making a beeline towards the woods. Panting hard, the bruise on her leg was starting to take its toll. Her head was spinning, suddenly it became extremely hard to breathe. She couldn't ignore the pain, tripping on a tree root and painfully tumbling to the ground. Her leg throbbed painfully with every movement, her lungs unable to take in any oxygen. She gave up, surrendering herself to the darkness around her._

"Kyoko-chan? Kyooko-chaan!" Arisa waved her hand in front of Kyoko's face, pulling her out of the trance-like state she was in. her hands trembled, her eyes afraid. Kyoko jerked her head towards Arisa, panicking a little before remembering where she was. Breathing a sigh of relief, she smiled a little at Arisa. "What's up?"

Arisa chuckled a little, trying to act like nothing happened. _I'm going to talk to Shin about this. She was practically shaking while that Linkin Park song was on, _she thought, smiling. "Look outside, we're here."

Kyoko looked up and saw that they really were in front of the inn. Blushing a little, she got out of the car, waiting for Arisa before heading towards Shin standing by the door.

"Enjoy your car ride home?" Kyoko smiled, walking inside with the two adults.

"Very much. I listened to a few songs that were really cool. They were Arisa-san's favorites."

Shin scrunched up his face. "Oh, you mean that punk rock American band? What was it, ivory dragons or something?"

Arisa smacked his head. "It's _Imagine _dragons, moron!" Kyoko giggled at the two, turning to see the Okami walking towards them. She waved a little.

"Okami-san! This is Arisa-san; she's a model for RMandy. She wanted to ask for your permission to take me to a modeling shoot tomorrow."

Arisa bowed. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Okami-san. You remember my parents, right? Elizabeth and Len Sato?"

A flash of recognition went across the Okami's face as she smiled at Arisa. "Arisa-chan, it's been ages! You've grown so much since we last saw each other. How old are you now, 27?"

Arisa shook her head politely. "Actually, I turned 30 last month. Though I'm glad that I don't look as old as I really am. Tomorrow there's a modeling shoot not far from here. I saw Kyoko-chan wanted to see what the entertainment industry was like before making any decisions, so I thought maybe taking her with me would help her make her choice."

Okami laughed a little. "Oh of course, sweetie! If it's you, I will let Kyoko-chan go. Just make sure she's back before 8:00." Arisa thanked her and bowed before standing next to Shin again. Kyoko turned to look at the two of them. "I promised Okami-san that I would talk to her after I came back, so why don't you two just chill around until I'm done. It won't take long, I'm sure." Kyoko ran off, following the Okami to the secluded room where she took Shin. Taisho was waiting for them, sitting on the ground with tea. Kyoko took a seat across from the elderly couple, becoming serious.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Taisho took in a deep breath. "We have given Hatake-san permission to take you with him, but there is a problem: school."

Kyoko frowned a little. "Yes, I would have to transfer to a different school in Tokyo, but I don't see where the problem lies."

"You can't live by yourself, Kyoko-chan. As much as you don't want to burden anyone, you are still only 12. We brought this up when we were talking to Hatake-san, and he said that he had no problem with adopting you as his own child, but he doesn't want to do anything without your consent. If you don't want this, it's okay to say no."

Taisho felt bad. _He said he wasn't sure, which is why I'm so reluctant to do this, but if there's even the slightest chance that what he said was true, then I don't want her to get hurt. _He looked at her shocked expression, not sure what to expect.

Kyoko sat there, tempted to ask Taisho to repeat what he just said. _He wants to adopt me?! Why would he want a boring, useless girl like me? _Kyoko's brain was a disaster zone. Part of her wanted to accept, to finally become a part of a real family, but the other part was hesitant, not wanting to go through what happened with her mother. _I don't want him to become disappointed in me and then leave me all alone, _she thought, trying to come up with some sort of answer.

"Taisho-san, this is a little sudden for me to decide. Can you wait a few days for my answer?"

He nodded, secretly relieved that she hadn't immediately accepted. _I love that child as if she were my own, _he thought, thinking about all the times she helped him cook meals. He smiled at her, assuring her everything was okay. "That's fine, Kyoko-chan. We just want you to be happy with the decision you make."

She smiled, grateful they weren't mad at her. _I'm really going to miss these guys, _she thought, sanding up and walking out of the room.

Arisa was annoyed at the way Shin was making fun of her.

"Looks like someone's getting old" he teased, laughing at the fact that she just turned 30 last week.

"Oh, shut up. What about you, Mr. Hot-shot? Didn't you just turn 42 three months ago? Who are you to call me old?" Shin smirked, stifling his laughter long enough to form a coherent sentence.

"At least I don't look my age. Just the other day a lady asked me if I had just turned 35. You, on the other hand…" he trailed off, implying the worst. A vein popped out on Arisa's forehead as she smacked the back of Shin's head.

"What was that? I _dare _you to say it again." Arisa said, extremely irritated. Shin rubbed the back of his head with a nervous smile.

"Oh look here comes Kyoko-chan!" He was sure he wouldn't make it out alive this time, but Kyoko came out of the room, saving him from certain death. He ran to her and gave her a huge hug.

"Hey, Kyoko-chan! How'd it go?" then, he whispered, "Help me, Arisa's trying to kill me."

She laughed at how Shin hid behind her when Arisa stepped closer. "It was fine. They were talking to me about school issues and stuff. I told them I would think about it and then give them a proper answer." She looked at Shin the entire time, trying to relay the hidden message to him. He nodded, understanding that she needed time to think about it.

Arisa smiled. "Well, that's good. It's never a good idea to rush into anything, you know. Always think carefully before doing anything that could potentially leave a huge impact on your life." She said, speaking in a 'super experienced person' tone. They all laughed."Come on, Kyoko-chan, let's go to your room." They started walking away when Shin called from behind. "Hey, what about me?"

Arisa turned around and glared, satisfied by his defensive pose. "Go die, old man." And stuck her tongue out at him before walking upstairs. Shin sighed. _I guess I had that coming._ Sulking, he made his way to his room, wondering what he was going to do for the next hour or so.

Meanwhile, Kyoko and Arisa walked into Kyoko's room, both surprised at what they saw. All around the room there were clothes on the floor, set up like it was a fashion show. The dresses Kyoko had bought as well as some casual clothes she didn't remember having before. She stood there, her face slowly creeping into a smile. She started laughing, making Arisa look at her like she was crazy.

"Shin-san, you really did it this time." She smiled fondly at all her new clothes, itching to try them on. Arisa's eyes widened.

"wait a sec, Shin bought all of this?!" she was impressed that he went so far for the young girl standing next to her. Arisa smiled, patting Kyoko's head. "hey, why don't we go get Shin. I'm sure he's lonely."

Kyoko nodded eagerly before practically dragging the older woman out of the room. The ran through the hallway, finally stopping in front of a room with a _Do Not Disturb _sign hanging in the front. Kyoko knocked a few times. "Shin-san, it's Kyoko. I'm coming in."

They opened the door to find Shin sulking in a corner, growing mushrooms in his misery. "I just wanted to have some fun," he mumbled, not even noticing the women's presence. Arisa sneaked up behind him and tickled his sides, resulting in a not-so-manly squeak from Shin. He turned around and saw the two standing in front of him, Kyoko with sparkles in her eyes and Arisa smiling a little. Kyoko ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Thank you so much, Shin-san! When did you have the time to buy all those casual clothes for me?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "When I dropped you off at the salon I went to some other stores and used the dresses to guess your size. I figured that you would need some casual clothes too, so I bought you some. Do you like them?"

Kyoko nodded enthusiastically. Arisa smiled softly, silently tacking a picture of the two. _Perfect father-daughter moment. _She looked up, clapping her hands once. "Let's go back to Kyoko-chan's room. She'll model her new clothes for us."

All three of them followed Kyoko to her room. She was so overjoyed that she skipped down the hall, making Shin and Arisa laugh a little. Walking into her room, Shin sat on the ground as Arisa handed Kyoko a yellow sundress, pushing her into the bathroom. Kyoko came out, hair pulled into a ponytail and the yellow sundress suiting her perfectly. Arisa gave her a pair of black wedge heels, telling her to put them smiled. _I was worried over nothing. It looks great on her, _he thought, relieved that the dress fit her. She stood up in her usual formal manner, earning a poke from Arisa. "Kyoko-chan, we have to fix that." Arisa said, poking Kyoko's extremely stiff back again. Kyoko smiled sheepishly, looking at Arisa expectantly as she continued talking. "having good posture and balancing your weight evenly is extremely important for models, but you shouldn't look stiff. If you want to look natural, you have to stand like this." Arisa stepped back, demonstrating. She stood, hands in her pockets and feet spread apart a little. Her back arched forward by a fraction, but that fraction was enough to make it look natural. Kyoko tried copying her movements, scrunching up her face in concentration. Shin laughed a little, looking at the two women posing like that. Arisa walked over to Kyoko and fixed her posture a little, walking in front of Kyoko to examine the final result. She smiled widely and clapped a few times.

"You catch on rally fast, Kyoko-chan. Now, pretend like you're su~uper bored." She instructed, stifling her laughter at Kyoko's soldier solute. Her shoulders dropped a little and she leaned forward, her arms hanging at her sides. Arisa looked at her, slightly shocked. _Her facial expressions really make it seem like she's bored out of her mind, _she thought, _but her body language doesn't seem like one who is extremely bored, more like she's lost all hope for the world. _She frowned, calling Shin to where she was. "Shin, you mind coming over here for a second?"

Puzzled, Shin stood up and walked over to where Arisa was standing. "Does she look bored to you?" Shin looked at Kyoko's posture. _Her face says she's bored, but her body says she's sad. _He frowned, whispering to Arisa, "If I couldn't see her face, I'd say she was sad."

Arisa nodded her head. "I was thinking the same thing. Kyoko-chan, can you act like you're sad?"

Kyoko nodded, smiling sadly for a second. _Who said I was acting?_ She thought, thinking about all the terrible memories she had. her shoulders fell and she bit her lower lip to keep herself from crying.

Shin and Arisa were startled when they saw Kyoko's already depressed figure slump over, her hair covering her eyes. She was biting her lower lip, her shoulders shook. A single tear fell down, hitting the hard wood floor. Arisa nervously spoke. "k-Kyoko-chan, why don't you pretend to be happy?"

Shin and Arisa watched as Kyoko's once depressed face turned into a loving smile within seconds. Her back straightened, her feet back together. She wiped a tear from her eye, smiling lovingly at the two. _No, she's not looking at _us, Shin thought, eyes wide open. _She's looking through us, as if we aren't even here. _"okay, Kyoko-chan, you can go back to normal." Immediately her posture became pin-straight again, hands immediately joined together in front of her. Smirking, he gave Arisa a high-five. "Looks like we won't have much to worry about. Kyoko-chan, it's amazing how you can change your expressions so quickly. For a second I actually thought you were depressed."

Kyoko smiled bashfully, mumbling thanks. "Will this make it easier to get my posture down?"

Arisa smirked. "Oh, at this point all that's left is to teach you the main points. Follow my lead." She stood next to Kyoko, smiling excitedly. "You ready for this?"

Kyoko nodded. _I've gotta get this down, even if it makes my feet bleed, _she thought, feeling determined. "I'm ready. Let's do this."

Shin sat up, rubbing his eyes. _When did I fall asleep? _He wondered, looking at his surroundings. He was still in Kyoko's room, propped up against the wall and covered with a blanket. He got and looked at the alarm clock sitting on the desk next to him. _5:37, _he read, walking towards the door. He stopped, almost stepping on Arisa. Both Arisa and Kyoko were sleeping soundly on the ground, heels discarded and dresses strewn over them. He smiled fondly, taking a picture quietly and sending it to Mori. _Aww, the girls are bonding!_ He wrote, taking his blanket and placing it on those two. He walked out of the room and into the bathroom, fixing his appearance before going to get something to eat.

Stepping down, he was greeted by the smells of rice and miso soup. He closed his eyes, practically floating over to where the wonderful scents originated: the kitchen. His journey to the delicious food was halted by the Taisho who was boiling some more rice. He smiled. "good morning, Hatake-san. Did you rest well?"

Shin smiled, bowing a little. "good morning. My night was enjoyable, to say the least." He said with a chuckle. Looking up, he saw Taisho staring at him, completely serious.

"Hatake-san, I told Kyoko about your option, including the school issue." Shin nodded solemnly. _Give her more time, Shin. She'll come to the best decision in the end._

"Yes, Taisho-san, she has told me of her decision. I honestly want nothing but the best for her, and if she decides that becoming my daughter isn't what she wants, I won't force her to do anything. I only brought up the matter in private because of our circumstances." He grabbed a plate, sitting down on the stool in front of the counter. "I plan to tell her today after she comes back from the modeling shoot with Arisa." Taisho nodded, still looking at Shin apprehensively.

"Make sure she knows that she's always welcome here. After being left alone by so many people and physically abused by her mother, I wouldn't be surprised if she-"

"Wait a sec, physically abused?" Shin stared at him, wide eyed. _no, it can't be, _he thought, desperately wishing he just misheard the Taisho. From the cold fury burning in Taisho's eyes, his hopes faded.

"That woman…" Taisho began telling the story, reliving the memory.

"It was late; the sun had already gone down when I heard rustling in the woods. Assuming it was just a bunny or something, I ignored it. A few hours later, I heard someone knocking at the front door. I went to go see who it was only to find Kyoko, bruised and bloody, her hair a mess, her clothes torn. Quickly bringing her inside, I patched her up as best as I could.

"She was trembling, chanting, 'I'll do better next time, mother. I promise.' Over and over again. My wife started treating some of the more serious wounds when she came across a horrible bruise on Kyoko's upper thigh and a relatively fresh gash on her stomach. Luckily, neither were too serious, but we rushed her to the hospital to bandage it up.

They kept her there for observation and then called in a psychologist to calm her down. I remember the conversation she had with the old woman.

'Kyoko-chan, I'm going to hold up some pictures and I want you to tell me what you see.'

She held up various pictures, relieved when Kyoko told her typical answers. A dog, scissors, a water bottle, it was all normal. Until she held up a mirror. Kyoko's response was, 'failure.'"

Shin listened closely, becoming angrier by the second_. I will hunt down Saena and make her pay for what she did to Kyoko-chan. That cold-blooded monster! _Taisho had paused, taking in a deep breath before continuing.

"No matter how much we tried, Kyoko wouldn't say that her mother caused her the pain. She kept saying 'it's my fault, it's my fault,' before falling unconscious. When she woke up the next morning, the psychologist told us to lie to her if she didn't remember what happened the night before. Apparently her subconscious would erase the memory if it was too painful for her to bear, and it did.

Taisho sighed, closing his eyes for a second. "To this day, she thinks we found her after she fell in the woods."

Shin was enraged. He slammed his hands on the counter, standing up abruptly. "Why didn't you take her away from that monster?!" Taisho shushed him, reminding him how early it was. Slowly looking around, Shin sat back down.

"We didn't have any solid proof."

"No solid proof?! How is a huge bruise and fresh cut _not solid proof?" S_hin stressed out every syllable, trembling with anger.

"Hatake-san, please calm down. What did you want us to do? Make her recall such a horrible memory to get rid of that woman? We did everything we could; she even stayed at the inn for a week before insisting that she go back to her house. Saena's car had driven away the day before, so I was sure she would be okay."

Shin looked at him, stunned. "Y-You don't know." He stood up, backing away from his unfinished breakfast. Taisho stood up as well, confused why Shin suddenly started backing away. "What are you talking about?"

Shin looked down, his hands balled into fists. His hair covered his eyes, preventing Taisho from seeing his appalled and shocked face. "That girl-she was alone for 3 years in that house. And you say _you did everything you could?! _You didn't even check up on her when she was in that house? You didn't notice her longer and more frequent visits? Her lifeless eyes? You didn't even consider that once that car left her driveway _it would never come back?"_ Taisho's eyes widened.

"n-no, we-" he was interrupted by a female voice.

"What's going on here?" both Taisho and Shin whipped their heads towards the stairway where Arisa stood, confused. Shin looked down, tightening his fists for a second before letting them go. He started walking out of the kitchen, stopping next to Arisa. "Come to my room after you've finished eating. We need to talk."

Arisa didn't have the chance to reply as Shin walked up the stairs, unreadable expression on his face. She turned to look at Taisho who stood there, wide-eyed. He covered his face with one hand, sitting down on the stool with a thump.

"She-how did we-it can't be!" he shook his head, desperately trying to deny what Shin told him. Arisa walked over to him, concerned.

"Taisho-san, what happened?"

* * *

**Okay, kurokazeryuu brought this to my attention. Kyoko usually would be too frugal to have a phone, but after Kyoko started living with the Fuwas they gave her a phone. think about it; they love her heaps, and wouldn't want her mother to cause any more trouble. resulting in Kyoko's cell phone!**

**another thing: Kuon is not 18-19, he is still 17 and Kyoko is 12, turning 13. Kuon's birthday is in February, and this is all taking place in mid-september. Shin hasn't seen the poor kid in so long he's only guessing how old his nephew is. sorry for any confusion.**

**Reviews are love! **

**-Momo**


	7. Chapter 6

**I am soo sorry, guys. i know it's been a while and i promised to update at least once a week, but school's been really stressful these last 2 weeks. i feel really guilty for making you wait so long, but i figured you guys would rather have some sort of update rather than a long chapter after a few weeks of no updates. i have two options for you: i can either have shorter chapters out faster or longer chapters out after a few weeks. i'm okay with either one, i just want to know what you guys would prefer.**

**sorry for such a tiny chapter, i wanted to get something out there after my little cliffhanger. rest assured, i am writing chapter 7 as you are reading this, so if you guys send me reviews i can start planning ahead of time.**

**enjoy! -Momo**

* * *

Arisa woke after hearing a thud. Groggily getting up, she saw Kyoko sleeping next to her on the floor, curled up in a smiled, looking where Shin had doezed off during the middle of the night. _He's gone, _she thought, finally remembering the loud thud that woke her up. She quickly washed her face before heading downstairs. Almost at the bottom, she stopped short, a chill running down her spine from hearing Shin's venomous voice.

"And you say you _did everything you could_?! You didn't even check up on her when she was in that house? You didn't notice her longer and more frequent visits? Her lifeless eyes? You didn't even stop once to consider that once that monster's car left the driveway _she would never come back?"_ Arisa jumped down the last few steps, a horrible feeling in her gut. _Last time I heard Shin like that was,_ she trailed off, running into the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" she saw Taisho shaking his head, eyes wide while Shin trembled with anger. His eyes were covered by his hair, but that snarl that escaped his lips as he passed her was enough to tell how furious he really was. Momentarily frozen, Arisa just stood there, listening to Shin's fading footsteps and then a door slamming shut. Quickly coming out of her trance, she rushed to Taisho's side, grabbing his unusually cold hand to help him sit down. She handed him a glass of water.

"Taisho-san, what happened?" it seemed like the older man was stuck in his own world of denials, continuously muttering incoherent sentences like, "that girl-it's not possible!" and "Why didn't I notice?" Arisa looked at his trembling figure, concerned.

"Taisho-san, you aren't making any sense. Who are you talking about?"

His eyes were wide open, a frantic and shocked expression on his face. "K-Kyoko-chan."

Arisa's heart sank, eyes wide. She lifted her free hand to cover her mouth. "What?"

Taisho looked shell shocked, and at this point Arisa was afraid it might affect his health. "T-Taisho-san, calm down, I'll go get Okami-san. Just stay here, okay?" she ordered one of the student chefs to make sure he didn't leave the kitchen before running around the building, looking for the Okami. Her heart was racing, her mind thinking up questions faster than a machine gun could throw bullets.

_What is he talking about? What happened to Kyoko-chan? Did something happen in the three years Taisho mentioned? What's going on?! _Arisa opened door after door, desperately looking for the Okami. Finally stumbling across her in the linen closet, she stopped and caught her breath.

"Okami-san! You have to hurry, Taisho-san doesn't look too good. He was talking to Shin and then Shin left extremely angry and Taisho looks absolutely horrified. Come on!" Okami dropped the basket she was holding and ran into the kitchen behind Arisa. Looking at her husband's state, she rushed to his aid. "Amano, what happened?!"

seeing the Okami was able to watch over her husband, Arisa breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm gonna go check up on Shin. He wasn't looking any better when he left the kitchen." Okami nodded her head distractedly as Arisa ran up the stairs, making a beeline towards Shin's room.

She knocked. "Shin? I'm coming inside," she opened the door, finding the older man slumped over the small table in the corner, head in his hands. She could still see the snarl on his face, but he was definitely calmer now. Arisa sat down next to him. "care to tell me what happened?"

Shin let his hands hit the table, looking up at the ceiling. "She's been through so much all alone. I just want her to be happy, Arisa."

"I know that, Shin," she said, smiling a little. "we all want her to be happy: you, me, Mori, hell, even President wants her to be happy. You aren't alone in this." she nudged his shoulder. "remember when we first met all those years ago?"

_finally, he smiled, _she thought, watching him open his eyes slowly.

"how could I forget? A child that ran through a live broadcast wearing a chicken costume, man did I give you hell after that." he chuckled. "how old were you, 17? how I looked down on you after that, but I didn't know you'd be the one to introduce me to my wife."

She smiled at the memory. _She was my favorite make-up artist, and my best friend. Of course I'd have her tag along for my first modeling shoot, _Arisa thought, laughing a little. "you remember how I was before I started modeling?"

Shin tried very hard to stifle a laugh. "pfft, of course. You were always worried or flustered, as if there wasn't a single ounce of confidence in your body. I wondered for the longest time why you decided to join the entertainment industry if you weren't comfortable with yourself."

Arisa nodded. "do you know why I was like that? All the girls envied me in school for my looks, and I never had a single friend. Top it off with all my boyfriends breaking up with me because they found someone better. Do you know why I changed?" Shin didn't do anything, assuming it was a rhetorical question. "I made friends, I learned that everyone can be beautiful and amazing if they loved themselves, and most important of all, I realized that I didn't need other people's approval to live my life the way I wanted. You and Mao were one of the first to teach me that."

Shin looked at the table for a few seconds, trying to absorb everything she just said. He looked at her, smiling and determined. "thanks, Arisa. You always know just what to say." he messed up her hair a little, despite her protests. "I was thinking about adopting Kyoko-chan. If she decided to come with us to Tokyo, I want her to be able to feel like she's a part of a regular family." Arisa nodded, not bothering to tell Shin that Kyoko hadn't told her any details of her life. _She told him, that's her decision. I won't push her into anything she doesn't want, and if she thinks it's be better not to tell me then that's fine, _she thought, waiting for Shin to continue. "I'll talk to her about it when she wakes up." as he was standing up, Arisa's voice stopped him.

"whoa whoa, hold on," she started, scrunching her eyebrows a little. "you mean to tell me you haven't discussed this with her yet?" she asked in a slightly threatening voice. Shin shook his head.

"no, I haven-ow!" he rubbed the back of his head where Arisa just smacked him. "what was that for?!"

"you idiot! This isn't the kind of thing you tell a child two days before leaving!" he smiled sheepishly at her.

"well, actually I had the Taisho talk to her about it first yesterday."

he was smiling triumphantly at first, until the room temperature dropped below zero. He nervously looked at Arisa's sweet smiling face. _Mao, if I don't make it out alive I just want you to know I love you, _he thought, crying inwardly at that certain death smile.

"Hatake-san?"

he gulped. "y-yes, Sato-chan?" _this is bad, she never calls me Hatake-san. I'm really in for it now, _Shin thought, trying to come up with a way to run out of the room unscathed.

"who's the one that wants to adopt her?"

"M-Me."

Arisa's smile turned into a frown as she unleashed her wrath on shin, flicking his forehead so hard he comically slammed into the wall. "you _Idiot!_ Why in the _world _would you have her current guardians tell her you want to take her?! Won't she think they _don't want her anymore?!_"

Shin's eyes widened a little at that. _What have I done? _"I'm so stupid! How could I forget that?!" he got up, speed walking out the door towards Kyoko's room, Arisa following his tail. He knocked a few times before opening the door, walking in slowly. "Kyoko-chan? We need to talk, hun."

he heard the shower open and Kyoko singing a little. He sighed, sitting propped up against the wall. He looked at the ceiling. "Arisa, if you don't want to be here you can leave, you know."

she shook her head. "i know, which is why I'm staying. If Kyoko decides she doesn't want to stay with you, or if anything goes wrong ever, I want her to know I'll accept her with open arms. But you better not hurt her, or I will personally kill you. Understood?" Shin nodded, completely serious. He pushed up his thick framed glasses, listening closely as he heard the shower close. They waited in silence, both worried at how this would turn out.

Kyoko stepped out of the bathroom to find her two mentors waiting for her, both standing in silence. _That's strange, whenever those two are in a room they just start fighting, _she thought looking at their serious expressions. "good morning, Shin-san, Arisa-san." she bowed a little, still confused by the tense atmosphere surrounding them. Shin looked at Arisa for a split second before smiling softly at Kyoko.

"Good morning to you too, Kyoko-chan. Come here, we need to talk about some things."

* * *

**i told you it was short ^_^" i hope you guys don't hate me right now, i've gotten a lot more written down but i don't have any time to type it up. please tell me if you guys want short, frequent updates, i don't want you waiting a century for me to get out a 7,000 word chapter if you just want to read shorter bits of this.**

**reviews are love! i read every single one of them, and if i haven't gotten back to you i'm sorry, but thanks for reviewing! it means a lot 3**

**-Momo**


	8. Chapter 7

**Hi guys :) i reached over 100 followers! thanks so much, it makes me feel a little better about myself to see that so many of you are enjoying this little fanfic of mine :)**

**I was originally supposed to update next weekend, but i thought we should celebrate my 100 quota with an early chapter! oh, i still haven't decided if i'm doing short or long chapters, just know that i will upload SOMETHING every other week. specific dates are, well, you can't plan out life can you? but still, here's the new chapter, and i will try to update soon! With half of chapter 8 already written, i just have to type it up and we're good to go!**

**WARNING: there are suicidal thoughts in this chapter! just throwing that out there so you guys don't yell at me later. besides, this IS a T rated fic, so i'm guessing there won't be any problems with that.**

**well, i'm gonna stop boring you with my long A/N. Enjoy!**

**-Momo**

* * *

Arisa woke after hearing a thud. Groggily getting up, she saw Kyoko sleeping next to her on the floor, curled up in a blanket. Arisa smiled, looking where Shin had dozed off during the middle of the night. _He's gone, _she thought, finally remembering the loud thud that woke her up. She quickly washed her face before heading downstairs. Almost at the bottom, she stopped short, a chill running down her spine from hearing Shin's venomous voice.

" And you say _you did everything you could?! _You didn't even check up on her when she was in that house? You didn't notice her longer and more frequent visits? Her lifeless eyes? You didn't even consider that once that car left her driveway _it would never come back?"_ Arisa jumped down the last few steps, a horrible feeling in her gut. _Last time I heard Shin like that was,_ she trailed off, running into the kitchen.

"What's going on here?" she saw Taisho shaking his head, eyes wide while Shin trembled with anger. His eyes were covered by his hair, but that snarl that escaped his lips as he passed her was enough to tell how furious he really was. Momentarily frozen, Arisa just stood there, listening to Shin's fading footsteps and then a door slamming shut. Quickly coming out of her trance, she rushed to Taisho's side, grabbing his unusually cold hand to help him sit down. She handed him a glass of water.

"Taisho-san, what happened?" it seemed like the older man was stuck in his own world of denials, continuously muttering incoherent sentences like, "that girl-it's not possible!" and "Alone for 3 years, how didn't I notice!" Arisa looked at his trembling figure, concerned.

"Taisho-san, you aren't making any sense. Who are you talking about?"

His eyes were wide open, a frantic and shocked expression on his face. "K-Kyoko-chan."

Arisa's heart sank, eyes wide. She lifted her free hand to cover her mouth. "What?"

Taisho looked shell shocked, and at this point Arisa was afraid it might affect his health. "T-Taisho-san, calm down, I'll go get Okami-san. Just stay here, okay?" She ordered one of the student chefs to make sure he didn't leave the kitchen before running around the building, looking for the Okami. Her heart was racing, her mind thinking up questions faster than a machine gun could throw bullets.

_What is he talking about? What happened to Kyoko-chan? Did something happen in the three years Taisho mentioned? What's going on?! _Arisa opened door after door, desperately looking for the Okami. Finally stumbling across her in the linen closet, she stopped and caught her breath.

"Okami-san! You have to hurry, Taisho-san doesn't look too good. He was talking to Shin and then Shin left extremely angry and Taisho looks absolutely horrified. Come on!" Okami dropped the basket she was holding and ran into the kitchen behind Arisa. Looking at her husband's state, she rushed to his aid. "Amano, what happened?!"

seeing the Okami was able to watch over her husband, Arisa breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm gonna go check up on Shin. He wasn't looking any better when he left the kitchen." Okami nodded her head distractedly as Arisa ran up the stairs, making a beeline towards Shin's room.

She knocked. "Shin? I'm coming inside," she opened the door, finding the older man slumped over the small table in the corner, head in his hands. She could still see the snarl on his face, but he was definitely calmer now. Arisa sat down next to him. "care to tell me what happened?"

Shin let his hands hit the table, looking up at the ceiling. "She's been through so much all alone. I just want her to be happy, Arisa."

"I know that, Shin," she said, smiling a little. "We all want her to be happy: you, me, Mori, hell, even President wants her to be happy. You aren't alone in this." she nudged his shoulder. "Remember when we first met all those years ago?"

_finally, he smiled, _she thought, watching him open his eyes slowly.

"How could I forget? A child that ran through a live broadcast wearing a chicken costume. Man, did I give you hell after that." he chuckled. "How old were you, 17? how I looked down on you after that, but I didn't know you'd be the one to introduce me to my wife."

She smiled at the memory. _She was my favorite make-up artist, and my best friend. Of course I'd have her tag along for my first modeling shoot, _Arisa thought, laughing a little. "You remember how I was before I started modeling?"

Shin tried very hard to stifle a laugh. "pfft, of course. You were always worried or flustered, as if there wasn't a single ounce of confidence in your body. I wondered for the longest time why you decided to join the entertainment industry if you weren't comfortable with yourself."

Arisa nodded. "Do you know why I was like that? All the girls envied me in school for my looks, and I never had a single friend. Top it off with all my boyfriends breaking up with me because they found someone better. Do you know why I changed?" Shin didn't do anything, assuming it was a rhetorical question. "I made friends, I learned that everyone can be beautiful and amazing if they loved themselves, and most important of all, I realized that I didn't need other people's approval to live my life the way I wanted. You and Mao were one of the first to teach me that."

Shin looked at the table for a few seconds, trying to absorb everything she just said. He looked at her, smiling and determined. "thanks, Arisa. You always know just what to say." he messed up her hair a little, despite her protests. "I was thinking about adopting Kyoko-chan. If she decided to come with us to Tokyo, I want her to be able to feel like she's a part of a regular family." Arisa nodded, not bothering to tell Shin that Kyoko hadn't told her any details of her life. _She told him, that's her decision. I won't push her into anything she doesn't want, and if she thinks it's be better not to tell me then that's fine, _she thought, waiting for Shin to continue. "I'll talk to her about it when she wakes up." as he was standing up, Arisa's voice stopped him.

"whoa whoa, hold on," she started, scrunching her eyebrows a little. "you mean to tell me you haven't discussed this with her yet?" she asked in a slightly threatening voice. Shin shook his head.

"no, I haven-ow!" he rubbed the back of his head where Arisa just smacked him. "what was that for?!"

"you idiot! This isn't the kind of thing you tell a child two days before leaving!" he smiled sheepishly at her.

"well, actually I had the Taisho talk to her about it first yesterday."

He was smiling triumphantly at first, until the room temperature dropped below zero. He nervously looked at Arisa's sweet smiling face. _Mao, if I don't make it out alive I just want you to know I love you, _he thought, crying inwardly at that smile. The one that meant certain death.

"Hatake-san?"

He gulped. "y-yes, Sato-chan?" _this is bad, she never calls me Hatake-san. I'm really in for it now, _Shin thought, trying to come up with a way to run out of the room unscathed.

"Who's the one that wants to adopt her?"

"M-Me."

Arisa's smile turned into a frown as she unleashed her wrath on shin, flicking his forehead so hard he comically slammed into the wall. "You _idiot!_ Why in the _world _would you have her current guardians tell her?! Won't she think they _don't want her anymore?!_"

Shin's eyes widened a little at that. _What have I done? _"I'm so stupid! How could I forget that?!" He got up, speed walking out the door towards Kyoko's room, Arisa following his tail. He knocked a few times before opening the door, walking in slowly. "Kyoko-chan? We need to talk, hun."

He heard the shower open and Kyoko singing a little. He sighed, sitting propped up against the wall. He looked at the ceiling. "Arisa, if you don't want to be here you can leave, you know."

She shook her head. "I know, which is why I'm staying. If Kyoko decides she doesn't want to stay with you, or if anything goes wrong ever, I want her to know I'll accept her with open arms. But you better not hurt her, or I will personally kill you. Understood?" Shin nodded, completely serious. He pushed up his thick framed glasses, listening closely as he heard the shower close. They waited in silence, both worried at how this would turn out.

Kyoko stepped out of the bathroom to find her two mentors waiting for her, both standing in silence. _That's strange, whenever those two are in a room they just start fighting, _she thought looking at their serious expressions. "Good morning, Shin-san, Arisa-san." she bowed a little, still confused by the tense atmosphere surrounding them. Shin looked at Arisa for a split second before smiling softly at Kyoko.

"Good morning to you too, Kyoko-chan. Come here, we need to talk about some things."

* * *

Kyoko sat stiffly against the wall, not sure what to expect. _What if he decided I'm not acting material? I'm just a failure anyway, it's not like I can ever be good at anything I do, _she thought, frowning slightly. Shin decided to speak up. "Kyoko-chan, if you decide to come with us to Tokyo, would you mind if I adopted you?"

Kyoko looked at him, puzzled. "Taisho already told me about that, why are you telling me again?" _why waste your time repeating information to such a worthless being?_

He sighed. "I knew this would happen. Kyoko, I want you to know that I told the Taisho to bring up the adoption. That elderly couple loves you very much and they were very reluctant to give me permission. This is a matter of your family, I don't want you living alone or living with people you don't want to live with. It wasn't fair of me to have your current guardians tell you this, I didn't realize how much it would hurt you."

Kyoko looked at him, eyes wide. _How did he know?_ "If you don't want to live with Shin, I'm willing to take you in." Kyoko looked at Arisa, startled at the offer.

"A-Arisa-san?"

Arisa smiled. "you've grown on me, Kyoko-chan. If you don't take up Shin on his offer, I'll take you with open arms. I live alone right now, and I wouldn't mind the company."

Kyoko looked at the two with tears in her eyes. Immediately they started panicking, reaching towards her at the same time. Shin spoke first.

"Kyoko-chan, if you don't want this it's okay. We won't mind If you decide to live somewhere else, I promise." _damn, I hoped this wouldn't happen,_ Shin thought, raising an eyebrow when Kyoko shook her head.

Smiling, she looked at the two with a small smile. "I'm just so touched that you two would go so far for me, I couldn't help but cry. No one's noticed my sadness before you two came along, and I'm grateful I met you two." she smiled at them, truly happy they loved her so much. _Looks like even a useless being like me can be loved, _she thought before quickly shaking her head. _No, they don't love me, they simply worry about my well-being. Love is completely out of the question when it comes to someone like me._

Arisa saw Kyoko shake her head a little , slightly puzzled. "Kyoko-chan, why are you shaking your head?"

Kyoko looked up and smiled. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just wondering if you guys already ate, but that's a stupid question. You've probably been up for a long time, considering how both of you were gone when I got up to take a shower. What could possibly stop you from eating breakfast?"

Kyoko prayed silently that they wouldn't catch on to her little lie. _I can't impose on you two more than I already have, _she thought, trying her best to act natural.

Lucky for her, Shin remembered why he didn't get to eat _his _breakfast, suddenly getting angry again. Arisa looked at him wearily.

"Shin," she warned, but it was no use. He was already beyond hearing anything outside of his barely controlled rage. He looked at Kyoko, managing to speak without venom in his voice.

"Kyoko-chan, the Fuwas didn't know you were alone for 3 years?"

She shook her head. "I showed them the letter mother left me, and said I was on my own for only a week or two. I had saved it, just in case she came back. I could take her to court and get her locked up for child abuse and abandonment with this letter."

Arisa was shocked by what she heard. _Her mother abused her? Is that why she's like this, no confidence or enthusiasm? I have a bone to pick with this woman, _she thought bitterly, trying hard to disguise the shock on her face before the rest of what Kyoko said finally registered in her mind. _Her mother left 3 years ago, and she was on her own. _And _she left a letter?!_. She looked at Shin who suddenly put his head in his hands, resting it on the table in front of them. Doing her best not to shout out what she was thinking, she was relieved to hear Shin sigh loudly, peeking at Kyoko through his fingers. He looked worn out, almost as if he aged 10 years in a few minutes. "Why didn't you tell anyone? No one deserves to carry a burden like that all alone."

Kyoko smiled sadly. _Who could I tell in the first place? _"Why bother someone with my past when I know they won't care? Don't get me wrong, the Fuwas are really nice, but they wouldn't want to hear the tragic story of their young maid. They would just get rid of me too." the last sentence came out in a whisper as she looked down at her lap. _Go on, walk away. Leave out that door just like everyone else. Just leave me here to rot in my misery, _she thought, trying so hard to keep her tears from falling. _Don't be weak, Kyoko! You can't cry now! _She mentally scolded herself, blinking away the tears.

Arisa slammed her hands on the table, face covered by her bangs. Her arms were trembling, hands tense. She whispered. "what did she _do _to make you lose all your confidence? I know for a fact the Fuwas love you as if you were their own. They would _never _leave you alone like tha-"

"Wouldn't they?" Kyoko snapped. "You can't guarantee they wouldn't leave me. No one can! Father said he would always be on my side, where is he now, huh?! Mother said she'd never hurt me, look where that got me! Face it, Arisa-san, I'm _not _lovable! No matter what you say, you can't change the truth!" Arisa looked at the younger girl, stunned by the outburst. _And is that, sympathy? _Kyoko shook the thought away, reaching the conclusion she was just seeing things. Shin put his hand on Arisa's shoulder. "Arisa, can you wait outside for a bit? I wanna talk to Kyoko-chan for a little bit."

reluctantly, Arisa got up and walked out of the room silently. As soon as she left, Kyoko's figure slumped over the table, her hands tangled in her hair as she finally realized what she just did. _I d-drove her away, _she thought in horror. _It's _my _fault she's gone. _She raised her shaking hand to her face, almost completely enveloped by her dark thoughts.

_I'm useless. A failure. Why was I born into this world if my life held such little meaning? It would be better if I just left this world. It's not like anyone would miss me anyways._ Looking at her dresser, she saw the gleam of the scissor blade sitting in the open. A part of her brain was set on using them on herself, and the little sane part of her brain was fighting a losing battle.

_Why don't I just die right now? It's the perfect opportunity._

_**No! I can't die yet! There's so much I wanted to do with my life!**_

_Life? Oh, you mean working in a shitty inn for the rest of your life, slaving yourself to Sho? Death is the only way out now._

_**I wanted to act! I can't just leave that behind!**_

_Hah! As if I had any acting talent to begin with. What was I planning to do, humiliate myself in Tokyo?_

Her thoughts turned for the worst as she slowly stood up, almost as if she were in a trance. Walking with a blank look of despair towards the scissors, she didn't even notice Shin calling her name.

* * *

**Ooh, i feel so absolutely evil when i actually write the cliffhanger for myself :} well, this is your cue to yell at me to update faster, which i will try to do. expect something by next weekend, and if i still haven't posted anything you guys have the honor of throwing whatever's in this bucket at me.**

***pulls out a giant basket/bucket thing full of random items* that...was heavy... what exactly did i put in here?**

**in all seriousness though, i am trying to get an even range of where my chapter sizes will be, because there are chapters everywhere from 1K to 6K in this fic. probably ranging around 2K-3K, 2K being my minimum and, well, no maximum. I also wanna know your thoughts on the suicidal thoughts. it took me a while to come up with something Kyoko-ish yet at the same time life threatening. I haven't studied anything about the subject, but if you guys think there's something off about my interpretation on that little scene, PLEASE let me know. i'm still young and i wanna grow as an author, you know?**

**tell me whatcha think! i LOVE hearing reviews, as you all already know =P but review anyway!**

**-Momo**


	9. Chapter 8

******Hey guys! *ducks as projectiles from bucket are thrown at her* okay, okay i apologize. i told you guys i would update last week, but sadly here i am, updating at the usual 2 week interval. I'm sorry i can't be superwoman, blah blah blah, you get the gist of it.**

******For some strange reason, the website wouldn't let me upload this chapter. I've been trying for almost 2 days now, but I finally got it to work this time.**

******anyways! this chapter isn't as dark as the last chapter. I made sure to add some humor (or my definition of it) in here. hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Shin was alarmed when Kyoko stood up. Even more so when he saw where she was headed. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could, he continued shouting Kyoko's name, grabbing her arms before she could grab the scissors. "Kyoko, what are you doing?! Kyoko can you hear me? Kyoko!" Shin started to panic, his voice raising every time he repeated her name. Her eyes were empty, nothing but sadness and loneliness reflecting on her unusually pale face. Arisa burst through the door, hearing Shin's pleas for Kyoko to snap out of whatever trance she was in. _damn, I can't even help her! _He thought, feeling angry at his own helplessness.

Arisa saw the look in Kyoko's eyes and immediately understood the situation. _I didn't want to let it get this far, _she thought, quickly taking Kyoko from Shin and wrapping her arms around the girl. Her body was cold, but she wasn't shivering. _Sweetie, it's gonna be okay, _Arisa thought, holding her tighter.

Kyoko was still in a daze, unable to comprehend what happened. _I was grabbing for the scissors when something stopped me. _Then, it finally registered that she almost tried to kill herself. _What was I thinking?! _She finally broke from her trance and found herself snuggled close in someone's loving arms. She trembled, finally breaking under all the depression and stress she had piling up inside. She heard Arisa's soft, gentle voice through the chaos in her mind. "shh, it's gonna be okay, sweetie. You're gonna be okay." she felt Arisa's soft hands rub her back gently, trying to comfort her. _I'm sorry, _she thought, unable to voice her thoughts through the sobs escaping her lips.

Shin stood there, feeling absolutely useless. _Why is it that I never know what to do at the most crucial of times?! _He was angry at himself, for not being able to comfort Kyoko when she needed it most. He mentally slapped himself. _What am I doing?! Standing here sulking when Kyoko almost killed herself?!_

As her sobs started dying down, Arisa looked at the young girl, quickly glancing next to her where Shin stood with a painful expression on his face. She waited for Kyoko to look up before talking. "Kyoko-chan, I will _never _leave you. I understand what's it's like to feel as if the world could do without your existence. I have the scars to prove it." Arisa rubbed off the make up she had on her arm, revealing a few scars. "To feel completely useless, like a failure, putting up a front when really all you want is someone to see your desperate state. I've seen it all, which is why I'm telling you it's not worth giving up your life for. If you just quit the game, that means they _won. _Your mother, that Sho kid, they would win if you did that. If you really wanna get back at them, live. Show them that no matter how many times you've been pushed down, you continue to stand. Show them your existence _matters. _Prove them wrong for ever thinking you useless enough to abandon you."

Kyoko was stunned with Arisa's confession. _She's such a happy person. Who would've thought she was just like me once? _Knowing that Arisa knew full well what Kyoko was going through made her feel...relieved. _I'm not alone in this, _Kyoko thought, seeing a tiny ray of hope glowing in the darkness she felt trapped in. Arisa continued, wiping a stray tear from her face. "You aren't alone in this either. You have me, Shin, and even Mori would do whatever he can to help you. So please, don't try to bear this all alone."

Shin finally spoke. "We want you to be happy, to live the life of a normal girl with dreams and aspirations. No one deserves to feel unloved, not even the worst of criminals, let alone such a sweet, caring girl like you."

the comment made Kyoko smile a little. She looked down for a second, forming a resolve. _They're right; I'm not alone in this anymore. I'll prove them wrong. I'll prove them all wrong! _She looked up, the fiercest determined look the older two had ever seen. "I'll do it." she bowed to Shin. "Please take care of me from now on, Shin-san."

Arisa smiled fondly at the scene, looking at Shin's shocked yet relieved expression. _That determination...this girl's gonna be scary. _Arisa smirked, anticipating Kyoko's debut. _Let's see what this baby tiger can do._

* * *

Kyoko imagined herself as a normal girl for a second. Coming home from school, eating dinner with the family, laughing at comedy shows, she imagined it all. And that dream was suddenly crushed by the door slamming open. She looked to see who it was only to find Sho standing, a menacing aura coming off of him. He looked at her, eyes murderous. Kyoko nervously looked at Shin and Arisa and saw they were standing against the wall where Sho couldn't see them.

"How dare you! How dare you curse my family you bitch!"

Kyoko looked at him, completely confused and slightly annoyed. "what are you tal-"

"Cut the crap, Kyoko! I know you did it! If Mother hadn't found him when she did father would probably be in the hospital! What did you say to him? Why does he keep repeating your damned name?! You're such a bitch! Why'd you have to do this to us?!""

She had no idea what happened. One minute Sho was yelling at her for something she didn't do, and the next he was up against the wall, arm painfully twisted behind his back. She had never seen Shin look so angry before, his eyes murderous.

"You _dare _say that one more time, and I'll rip your arm off." he pulled Sho's arm back further, resulting in a pained squeak from the boy. "such a heartless man-whore doesn't deserve to coexist with such a sweet girl like Kyoko-chan. Why don't I just do the world a favor and kill you off, right here, right now." Shin pulled his free arm back to punch Sho before Arisa's hand stopped him. All three of them looked at the woman, Sho relieved while Kyoko and Shin feared what would happen next.

Arisa was the epitome of calmness. She looked at Shin, her eyes glinting with malice. "Shin, you are a famous director. If you punch him it'll hurt your reputation." Shin dropped his arm slowly, waiting for Arisa to explain some more. Instead, she turned around, barely talking a step back when Sho sighed in relief. Out of nowhere, Arisa's fist painfully came in contact with Sho's face, making the boy groan. She smiled, her eyes finally giving through to how she truly felt: someone was going to die that night, and it wasn't going to be Arisa. She smiled evilly, lowering her face to Sho's bloody one. "I, on the other hand, am just another model. My reputation isn't _nearly _as important as teaching pimps like you a lesson or two on how to treat women." she swiftly kneed him in the stomach, leaving him out of breath and literally in tears.

"P-Please, let me g-go," he said, nearly peeing in his pants. Shin looked at Kyoko, wondering if she had any last words for the bruised and bloody kid.

Kyoko, seeing Shin's inquiring eyebrow, walked towards Sho slowly, an intimidating aura surrounding her. "a week ago, I would have run away to America if you asked me to. I would have given up my _everything _to support you, stay by your side." she took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a second. When they opened, there was new-found determination shining on her face. "but now, I'm gonna live my life the way _I _want to. Not how you want me to, not how your parents want me to. _I. Am. Leaving." _she spoke in a menacing voice, feeling very satisfied by Sho's audible gulp. "And I am as sure as hell never coming back. It's funny, how you're the one who made me realize who I am after treating me like trash all these years. So thank you, Shotaro Fuwa, for helping me decide what _I _want to do with my life." she did a mock bow before turning her back at the poor kid.

Arisa was in awe by Kyoko's attitude towards the boy. _This is different from the angriness she directed at me earlier. That one was anger and depression mixed together. But this? This is pure hatred, _Arisa thought, doing her best to keep her face neutral. _Then again, this bastard deserves it. Calling her a bitch like that, how dare he?! _She watched as Shin pulled him up roughly and practically threw him out the door, watching him stumble away. Looking at Kyoko, who should have still been unstable at this point, Arisa calmly walked over and put her hand on the younger girl. "Are you okay?"

Kyoko, seemingly lost in her thoughts, jumped a little at the question. "Yeah, I'll be okay. What was he talking about though? What happened to Taisho-san?"

_ah, that is one question not even I can answer, _Arisa thought, looking at a guilty Shin. He tried avoiding eye contact with the girl, but it was inevitable. "Kyoko-chan, this morning I told Taisho that you had been alone for those 3 years. He didn't know, and I got angry that, although he said he did everything he could to help you, didn't even know that you were all alone in that house for so long. I'm not exactly sure how he took that information, but he was definitely shocked. I kinda stormed away after that final statement."

Kyoko's eyes widened, coming across the possibility that Taisho could have had a heart attack. She ran out the door, Arisa and Shin right after her, sprinting down the halls towards the kitchen.

Opening the door, she found Okami and Taisho sitting at the table, both looking extremely distressed. Taisho was still shaking slightly, but it seemed like it wasn't too severe at this point. Okami was sitting with her head in her hands, mouth contorted into a frown. When they saw Kyoko walk into the kitchen, they looked everywhere but at her.

To be honest, Kyoko was extremely hurt. _What did I do this time? "_um, Taisho-san, Okami-san, are you two okay?"

they flinched at her question. _We don't deserve to have such a kind, understanding girl living with us,_ Taisho thought. _All we have done is hurt her._

Then, out of nowhere, he went down and prostrated himself in front of Kyoko. She stood there, completely baffled by the scene taking place in front of her. "T-taisho-san, what are you-"

"I'm so sorry, Kyoko. We don't deserve to have you with us. We didn't eve notice how you were all alone for those 3 years without _that woman. _We don't deserve to say we love you."

Okami had joined her husband on the floor, both asking Kyoko to forgive them. The girl smiled a little, crouching in front of them. "Taisho-san, Okami-san, I hope you understand that I didn't want anyone to find out about that. I don't care that you didn't know how long I was alone; what matters is that you found out I was by myself, and you _helped. _You two saved me from being all alone with my thoughts at night, and for that I can't ever repay you. I will be leaving, but I still love you two as if you were my own parents. Please, stop bowing to me, it's embarrassing." slowly the two got up and sat next to Kyoko. Taisho was still unsure about the entire situation, and it was clearly evident by his fidgety hands. _Wow, he must really be taking this to heart if he's playing with his hands. He almost never does that, _Kyoko thought, giving the couple a reassuring smile and pulling them in for a hug. "I promise this won't ever change, no matter how far away I go."

Taisho mumbled something incoherent. "Taisho-san, can you please say that again?"

He looked a little surprised, almost as if he didn't mean to say anything out loud. "You're probably leaving because of how much pain this place has caused you, especially Sho."

Kyoko grimaced. "I will admit, I was planning on leaving even before Shin offered to take me with him. What Sho said to me was...painful, like tearing open an old wound that hasn't fully healed. But I've decided to leave this place with happy memories instead of sad ones. I'm not going to run away from what has happened here; I'm going to make my own destiny. And if you ever need me, don't hesitate to call me back. I'll come visit happily."

they sat in an embrace for a while, not even taking note that Arisa and Shin had left a long time ago. They were hiding by the stairs, trying to listen to the conversation without disturbing the family moment. Arisa looked at Shin, curious. "wait a sec, this Sho bastard has done something to her before?"

Shin looked at her, slightly surprised. "oh, Kyoko hasn't had a chance to tell you yet?" he watched Arisa shake her head. "well, I don't think she would appreciate me telling you about her past. It would be best if you ask her about it yourself."

Arisa nodded, completely understanding what Shin meant. _It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man's past is his business, _she recalled, remembering it from a book she read. _If she doesn't want to tell me, that's okay. I don't want to press too hard for information._

Kyoko walked out of the kitchen, deep in thought. Arisa and Shin quickly leaned away from the wall, trying hard to cover up the face that they were eavesdropping on her conversation. Luckily, she didn't notice. "Hey Kyoko-chan, why don't we start getting ready for that modelling shoot. It starts at 1, and it's 10:30 right now. We have 2 and a half hours to get ready because it takes an hour to get there. Come on!" she grabbed Kyoko's hand and pulled her upstairs, slamming the door shut as they went into Kyoko's room. Shin sat there, arm stretched out and mouth just barely forming the word, "wait." he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. _Those two are gonna be in there for the next few hours. What am I supposed to do? _He sulked all the way to his room, deciding that actually getting some work done would be beneficial for him.

Meanwhile, Kyoko and Arisa were sorting through the younger girl's closet, trying to find her something nice to wear. Arisa had pulled her bag out from her car late last night, so she had already decided that she would wear a mustard and black spaghetti strap top with white pants. Looking at her phone, she knew the shoot was going to be nature themed. According to that, she pulled out the yellow sundress she had tried on last night along with the same black heels. "it's going to be nature themed, and this sundress really complements your eyes. Go try it on, I'm going to do your hair when you come out."

Kyoko took the clothes, feeling very much like a princess at the moment. _It's almost as if I'm Cinderella and Arisa-san is the Fairy Godmother! And then, and then, my Prince Corn will show up and take me away to the world of the fairies! _She literally floated into the bathroom, much to Arisa's amusement. Arisa's smile faltered a little. _She's been through so much, and if it built up to the point where she nearly committed suicide, I am afraid. She's the type of girl that will probably try and forget what happened almost an hour ago. This is much better than not moving for days because the depression is so bad. But there's also the possibility that she's bottling up her emotions, and when the day comes when she's cracked, she might do something she'll regret. _Vowing that Arisa would watch over Kyoko, she continued looking for a nice sweater to go with the sundress. _It is getting chilly nowadays._

In the bathroom, Kyoko tried on the sundress and looked at her reflection. _I wonder if other girls admire their figures in the mirror, _she thought, looking at her underdeveloped figure. _Then again, I'm still only 12. I don't have to worry about stuff like this just yet. _Happy by her self conclusion, she put on the heels and walked out of the bathroom.

Arisa had already changed, her flowy top fluttering every time she moved. Kyoko stood there in awe, trying her best to make that her goal. _Even if I don't become a model, I still want to look as awesome as Arisa-san! _Arisa had been brushing her brown curls when Kyoko walked out of the bathroom. One look at the girl and she went ballistic.

"oh my gosh you look so cute Kyoko-chan! I could just eat you up!" somehow, Arisa made it across the room in a split second, managing to hug Kyoko fiercely. Kyoko just laughed at the older woman's behavior, starting to grow used to it. Then, just as fast as she came, Arisa gained her composure and stood in front of Kyoko. She smiled evilly, holding up a straightener and hair spray. She clamped the straightener like they were a pair of tongs, smirking at Kyoko. "okay, now to the real business at hand."

She quickly pulled Kyoko near the mirror, starting to straighten the girl's puffy hair. "your hair is so thick, it's probably really hard to comb it, right?"

Kyoko smiled widely. "yeah! Every time I take a shower I can't brush my hair right after because then it's too thick, and if I brush it when it's fully dry it's all tangled! And if I use a blow dryer the situation gets even worse! I don't even have the money to buy a straightener because all my money goes towards savings and school."

Arisa nodded, smiling at the fact that the younger girl had started opening up to her. Her smile faltered a little after hearing that last sentence. "wait, the Fuwas don't pay for your school fees?"

"no, I couldn't possibly burden them more by paying my fees. All the money I make from this job are going towards the school fees. I couldn't convince them from not buying my textbooks though."

Arisa had the sudden urge to laugh. "Kyoko-chan, if they are paying you for working here, and you're using that money to pay for school, then isn't that the same as them paying for your fees directly?"

Kyoko was silent for a second when the realization hit her. She looked in the mirror in horror, letting out a scream. "AAAAAH! How did I miss that?!"

Arisa stifled her laughs, watching Kyoko freaking out. She patted the girl's head, almost as if she were petting a cat. "there there, little one. I'm sure they were happy to pay for you. Don't worry too much, they love you! Didn't you see how distressed they were when they thought your sadness was their fault?"

Kyoko stopped her cries to think about what Arisa said. She smiled sadly. "of course. They didn't hurt me directly in any way. Sho, on the other hand," she trailed off, letting Arisa imagine what happened.

Arisa, unable to keep her curiosity from getting the better of her, asked Kyoko, "Did this Sho kid do something to you before that scene earlier today?"

Kyoko looked at her, slightly surprised. "oh, I haven't told you yet? I could have sworn I did."

Arisa shook her head, slightly amused and relieved at her answer. _So it was purely accidental that she hasn't told me yet. It wasn't as if she didn't trust me, _she thought, finally letting that thought off her chest.

She continued straightening Kyoko's hair, listening to the girl's story intently. By the end of the tale, Arisa was downright furious. "If I ever meet this woman I swear what I did to that Sho bastard will be the punishment that woman would ask for." she said, clearly angry at the way Saena treated Kyoko. _Do such women even exist?! _

Kyoko smiled a little. "thanks, Arisa-san. Is my hair done yet?"

Arisa was shaken out of her malicious thoughts, understanding that Kyoko didn't want to continue on the subject. "almost. Just one piece left." she finished straightening the last bunch of hair, putting on barely any hair spray to make sure it didn't get frizzy. Showing Kyoko her image in the mirror, she smiled at the girl's ecstatic reaction.

Her hair was mostly straightened, going a little past her shoulders. She had a thin braid tucked behind her ear, giving off a girly look. Kyoko squealed. "thank you Arisa-san! How can I ever repay you?"

Arisa smiled fondly at the young girl. "the only way you could ever repay me is by being happy."

Kyoko smiled widely at the older woman's wish. Looking at her watch, she saw it was 9:30. "Arisa-san, it's already 11:00. are we both ready to go?"

Arisa looked at her own watch, letting out a little squeak. "I'm almost ready. Just the finishing lip gloss," she applied some pink lip gloss, smacking her lips together to even it out. "and we're ready to go! Oh, Kyoko-chan, put on this sweater. It's gonna be a bit chilly outside today."

Arisa handed Kyoko a white sweater and she wore her own little leather coat. Together, the two went to the kitchen to tell the Okami where they were going. She smiled and waved as they left the parking lot of the inn.

Kyoko smiled at the turn of events. _Who would have thought I'd meet such nice people? Let's hope this works out._

* * *

******see? wasn't that just so much nicer compared to the dark chapter before? and we got to see a bruised and bloody Sho nearly piss his pants! i cannot imagine anything better than that. well, anything short of Ren confessing his undying love to Kyoko so those two can finally go live happily ever after.**

******Plans for the next chapter! we will see what goes on with Shin at the inn, and then go back to see what Kyoko and Arisa are doing. I'm finally getting closer to finishing part 1! like, 4 ish more chapters for this part outta as-many-parts-as-i-need-to-finish-this. you all know tht i have a very loose plan for this story, which leaves a lot of room for improv and a LOT of detail.**

******one thing: i borrowed a quote from my FAVORITE TV show, Avatar: the Last Airbender. if you haven't seen it yet, 1) what are you doing with your life? and 2) WATCH. IT. it is the best show EVER. Quote:"**_**It's not nice to bother people about things they might not want to talk about. A man's past is his business" A:TLA book 2 episode 7**_

******disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the last airbender or Skip Beat! if i did, Avatar would SUCK and Kyoko and ren would have already gotten married by now.**

******tell me whatcha think! reviews are love ^_^ come on, i can tell there's a lot of people who favorite and follow this. if half of you posted some sort of review i would be suuper happy! i got like, 4 reviews last chapter. do you not love my fanfic anymore? )':**

******-Momo**


	10. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! Okay look, before you yell at me, i'm really sorry about not updating. school's been a pain in the ass lately, and i had quarter exams and all that crap. I'm human, i can't do everything at once.**

**This is a relatively short filler chapter. I've had people telling me this is moving really slow, but rest assured this part is necessary for when she actually goes to Tokyo. **

**Imma stop talking and let you read my short chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Shin sat alone in his room, finishing the paperwork he was supposed to do before coming to Kyoto. He sighed. _Why did those two have to leave me here? I'm so bored! _Suddenly, an idea formed in his head. Quickly pulling out his cell phone, he called Mori.

"_hello?_"

"Mori! It's me, Shin. You think you could come over to the inn in a bit?"

"_why? Did Arisa-chan and Kyoko-chan leave you alone?"_

Shin frowned at the phone, mainly because that was exactly what had happened. He pouted. "so what if they did? I need some company man! Come over, we haven't talked in a long time."

"_We talked yesterday."_

"See what I mean? It's been ages! If you come over I'll ask Taisho-san to make steak." he taunted, hoping his friend would take the bait.

"_...I'll be over in 10 minutes."_

"haha, now that's what I'm talking about! See ya soon!" Shin hung up the phone, satisfied. _Okay, now to convince Taisho to make us some steaks._

* * *

Lory was lying in his pool, playing with Ellie the elephant._ That girl, Kyoko-chan I believe. _He was still baffled by her little show of talent. _She will be very scary when she grows up, _he thought, swinging from Ellie's trunk. Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door. "come in," he shouted, watching as Sebastian walked into the room holding a phone in his hands. "Who could possibly want to talk to me?" Lory asked to no one in particular, completely ignoring the fact that he was the president of one of the biggest entertainment corporations in Japan. Taking the phone from Sebastian, he became somewhat business-like when he spoke. "This is Lory from LME."

"_Boss, I'm adopting Kyoko-chan."_

Lory held the phone in front of him, looking at it as if it were some sort of alien. "say that again?"

he heard someone sigh from the other side. _"Boss, it's me, Shin. I'm calling to ask if you have any objections against me adopting Kyoko-chan. If you do, Arisa is more than willing to take her in, and her guardians are okay with it as well."_

Lory had climbed his way up Ellie's trunk and was now sitting on his back, looking as serious as a person can look when they are sitting on an elephant in a pool. "Shin, you understand what's going to happen if you adopt her right? The press won't leave her alone, and they might even rob her of her chance to make a name for herself."

"_What do you mean?"_

Lory tried to be as vague as possible. _This is a very touchy subject. _"When a child's parents are extremely famous, a shadow of that parent is constantly looming over their children, warning them that they have to be just as good as their parents were. I've seen situations where the child completely cracks under pressure, unable to do anything. If you adopt her now, as in legally adopt her, she will forever be known as 'the girl Director Shin picked up off the streets'."

Shin was silent for a moment. "_What do you suggest we do Boss? I refuse to just leave her here; she _needs _to get away from this town."_

Lory frowned. "and why is that?" He listened intently as Shin told him vaguely about what Kyoko had been through. He stood up and got out of the pool, motioning for Sebastian to get his robes before taking a seat.

"So you think that if she stays here any longer she might take her life?"

"_Boss, I was there when it happened. She has to get away from here, or she might not have someone to stop her the next time around." _

Lory nodded, fully aware that Shin could not see him. "Okay, this is what we do..."

* * *

Mori was walking into the inn when he noticed a young boy, his face all swollen and his nose bleeding. "hey kid, you alright there?"

said child looked up, tried his best to scowl and said, "I'm fine, meat-head. Why don't you just mind your own business?"

Mori glared at the boy, muttering under his breath. "no wonder he's all bruised and bloody. What a jerk." He talked to one of the employees, asking around for where Shin was. The young woman smiled and led him to the room where his best friend was sitting. Knocking on the door once, he walked in to see Shin talking to someone on the phone. _Looks like a business call or something, _he thought, sitting down and waiting for his friend to finish.

"Are you sure about this? No, it's not that I'm questioning your judgement but the plan seems a bit scandelous don't you think? And what if the media finds out, then what do we do? Okay, okay fine, let's go with your idea. I just hope this all works out in the end. No, she went with Arisa for some modeling shoot." that caught Mori's attention. _He's talking about Kyoko-chan? With who? _"Boss I'm not exactly sure that's a good-" the sound of the dial tone could be heard through the room, much to Shin's frustration.

"On the phone with Prez, were ya?" Shin jumped, looking back at a smirking Mori.

"when did you get here?!"

"Oh, about 2 minutes ago. Why, were you plotting some sort of kidnapping and couldn't let me in on it?" he teased, wondering if Shin really was talking about Kyoko. _And if he was, what was all that talk about scandals?_

Shin sighed. "no, I was not planning anything of the sort. I was talking to Boss about Kyoko's future. I think she could really make it big in the entertainment industry if she wanted it bad enough, but I still need to work out some problems with her coming with us."

Mori choked. "w-what? She's coming with us _tomorrow?! _That's too sudden Shin, she's only 13!"

"12, actually." Mori glared at Shin who just smiled at him sheepishly. _My best friend is an _idiot, Mori thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Okay, so President has everything already figured out? What about the innkeepers? Is Kyoko ready for this?"

"Mori, you need to relax a little. Everything is working out fine, she needs to get away from this place. The memories of her mother and the sudden betrayal of her best friend had a huge blow on her, and if she stays here any longer it's going to put her life in danger."

Mori frowned. "If you need anything, or if Kyoko needs a place to stay, I could always take her in. Amano always wanted an older sister."

Shin shook his head, smiling. "It's okay, Boss already made arrangements for where she'll be staying. But if she wants to have a sleepover then by all means, go ahead." they laughed a little at the thought of Kyoko and Mori's 5 year old son Amano having a sleepover.

They were rudely interrupted by a phone call. Shin picked up the phone, reading _boss_ in flashing letters. Frowning, he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Shin, I'm sending an airplane for you and Kyoko tomorrow at 6. You're both going to California."

Shin listened to Lory intently, completely shocked by what he was hearing. "what?!"

* * *

**Okay, it is 2 in the morning and I am tired. but i stayed up trying to write this chapter for you. i don't really like this chapter in general, it feels like something's missing**

_***maybe it's, oh i don't know, the fact that our main character isn't even there?***_

**_Hmmm, very plausible explination._**

**_O.O" _****I just had a conversation with myself... yeah i really need to get some sleep. I'll try to manage my time better, hopefully get out a longer chapter next time. **

**please review! i know this was short and really cliffhanger-y, but reviews are love!**

**sowwy :) here's a cookie. i hope you accept my sincere apologies.**

**-Momo**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! *gasp* i'm still alive? omg i know, hard to believe right?**

**In my defense, i wrote a LOT for this chapter. freaking 4000+ words! i had a LOT of fun writing this out, it's dabbling with a lot of different stuff. well, you'll see what i mean when you read it.**

**imma shut up now. enjoy!**

* * *

Kyoko found herself sitting on an airplane next to Shin, eating some type of fancy fish she had never seen in her life. She didn't know why she was there, all she knew was that she was leaving the country to visit Shin's brother.

Glancing at the kind man beside her, she wondered what could have happened. He was frowning, deep in thought._ I wonder what could have happened in the few hours I was gone_, she thought, thinking back to their hasty departure a few hours earlier.

**-The Day Before-**

Kyoko walked around the park, looking at the beautiful view._ I've never been to this part of town,_ she thought, amazed at the thought that she would watch Arisa work in this place. she squealed in delight, going back into her little fantasies._ Arisa-san would be the queen wearing the sparkly blue dress like Cinderella, and then the fairy godmother would come and sprinkle her fairy magic all over us and then I would be a fairy princess just like Arisa-san!_

floating in her own little world, Kyoko didn't even notice when Arisa started walking with her. smiling at the girl, Arisa put her hand on Kyoko's shoulder, breaking her out of her trance.

"Kyoko-chan, come meet the director with me." Kyoko jumped a little, looking at Arisa with a huge smile.

"really?! Can I meet him?"

"her actually," they both turned to see a petite woman walking towards them with a smile. she had brown hair with blonde highlights, tied in a messy bun. she wasn't particularly tall, 5'4" at most. She smiled and bowed to the two of them. "hey Arisa, it's been a while," she started, looking at Kyoko. "Hi there! what's your name sweetie?"

Kyoko bowed, being extremely polite. "Hello, director-san. I'm Kyoko Mogami. Nice to meet you."

the director looked at Arisa, impressed with Kyoko's manners. "I'm Yuki Shota, the director for this modeling shoot. may I ask what brings you here Kyoko-chan?"

"U-um, I'm planning on joining the entertainment industry and I wanted to see what it was like," she said quietly, still a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last week_. I'm going to go to Tokyo. with famous Director Shin Hatake. Oh my goodness!_

The two older women looked at her, amused by the different emotions playing on her face: shyness, awe, shock, then it finally settled on joy. Arisa chuckled, used to the young girl's mood swings. Yuki suppressed a laugh of her own, leaning toward Arisa and whispering, "Is she always like this?" Arisa nodded, shoulders shaking from holding in her laughter so long. Yuki knew the girl would get offended if Arisa broke into laughter and quickly changed the subject.

"Well, if you want to see some show-biz action, you've come to the right place. come on, I'll show you what goes on in these modeling shoots." Kyoko's face lit up as she nodded enthusiastically. Yuki looked at Arisa, completely serious. "Arisa, you are a bit early. the more time we have the better. Go to your dressing room and get ready." Arisa nodded and headed towards the trailers behind her. Kyoko looked at Yuki, curious about how they were going to do the photo shoot first. "Um Shota-san, how exactly are you going to take the pictures here?"

the older woman chuckled, pointing at a few men who were bringing down the cameras. "those guys are going to set up a bunch of cameras and lights everywhere, and then the cameraman will take the pictures using those."

"but isn't it the director's job to take the pictures?" Kyoko was confused._ if the director isn't the one taking the pictures then how will they know if it came out right?_

"Good question, Kyoko-chan. why don't you come and see for yourself?" she started walking towards the shooting grounds where only authorized people could enter, Kyoko following her footsteps. she watched Yuki give orders to some of the crew members, amazed by the amount of work it took to take a few pictures._ I can take pictures too, and it wouldn't be this tiring,_ she thought, wondering how much money they had spent on that equipment. shaking her head, she decided it was best if she just stayed away from the cameras._ I don't want to end up messing with them and then drowning in debt, forced to live the rest of my life as a slave to these people_, she shuddered at the thought, already making up an entire story of what would happen if she stepped within 10 feet of those cameras.

Cursing her bad luck, she saw that the director sat right next to the cameras. Pulling on Yuki's sleeve a little, she pointed to the giant screen in front of her. "Shota-san, why is there a giant tv next to your seat?"

Yuki smiled mischievously. "You'll see. Patience is a virtue, my young grasshopper." she said in a i'm-trying-my-best-to-sound-like-a-karate-master voice. Kyoko laughed, sitting in the small chair next to Yuki. Arisa had come out, dressed in a v-neck yellow sundress matching Kyoko's. She wore a white sweater on top, along with a white hat and black pumps. Her hair had been put up in a bun, her make-up flawless. Yuki smiled. "perfect, now we can get started."

Starting with the photo shoot, Kyoko finally saw what exactly a director did. She looked at how Arisa modeled, how much fun she was having._ she loves her job_, Kyoko realized. _she doesn't care if she's working into the dead of the night, she's enjoying every minute of it_. Kyoko continued to watch Arisa model, occasionally looking at how Yuki played her role as well.

"Shota-san, does the director make sure the pictures turn out okay?"

Yuki smiled widely. "you got it kiddo! well, that's what I do, I can't say the same for every director out there."

Kyoko frowned. "why not?"

"because, not every director is a modeling director. movie directors watch the actors play out their roles and then decide if it's what they had imagined that specific scene to be like."

Kyoko nodded, listening so intently Yuki was sure if the girl had paper and a pen she would be taking notes. _This girl is something else,_ she thought, smiling inwardly. _Though that doesn't have to be a bad thing._

Arisa came up to the two of them, drinking some of the water she had in her hands. "Kyoko-chan, you wanna take some pictures with me for fun? they don't even have to get published, we'll just keep them as memories."

Kyoko's face lit up. "really?! can I, can I, pleaaase?" she pleaded with Yuki to let her have a few shots. Yuki couldn't handle those puppy-dog eyes from the young child and gave in. "fine, but I'm going to treat you as if you were doing a real shoot, okay?"

Kyoko jumped in the air with joy, suddenly stopping in mid-air and bowing to Yuki. "thank you very much Shota-san. I promise this won't be a waste of your time." and then went back to her joy. Yuki just stood there for a second, trying to come up with a plausible answer to what just happened. _she-she stopped herself in mid-air. what the heck is this girl?!_ shaking her head, she looked at Arisa who was chatting away with Kyoko. She suddenly had an idea.

"okay you two, you are going to do a natural shoot. act like you always do, have a good time. We're just going to take the pictures like that."

the two nodded, getting into the zone. Arisa looked at Kyoko and smiled. "it's gonna be fine, just follow my lead."

puzzled, Kyoko nodded her head. she saw Arisa smile mischievously, whispering in Kyoko's ear. "I freaked out Shin once and he yelled 'mommy' at the top of his lungs in front of his wife." Kyoko burst into laughter, Arisa joining her. Yuki smiled widely. _this is gonna be good._

They continued having the time of their lives, almost unaware of the pictures being taken of them. For a few pictures they posed a little, back-to-back with their shades trying to look cool. After they took about 20 or so shots of the two, Yuki called the two of them over to where she was. she was grinning like she had just won the lottery. "Okay, these pictures came out fantastic! Kyoko-chan, you are extremely photogenic. If you ever decide to become a model just call me." Kyoko blushed at the compliment.

"I couldn't have possibly done this without you or Arisa-san. Thank you for the offer, Shota-san." she bowed, extremely happy that she had the opportunity to actually take part in a modeling shoot.

"Have the pictures developed yet?" Arisa asked, itching to see how they went.

"your personal one should be done in a half-hour. I will mail you the others sometime this week. You don't have anything else for me today, so if you want to wait for the pictures to develop you can sit in the lounge. If you have something else to do then I can just mail it to you next time."

"No, that's fine. I've got nothing else to do today and waiting wouldn't be too bad. Come, Kyoko-chan, we can discuss our strategies against that old man in the lounge." Kyoko nodded enthusiastically, a cynical aura surrounding her. Yuki sweatdropped. _what_ will _the entertainment industry do with those two?_

meanwhile Kyoko and Arisa sat together in the lounge, talking about all the different ways they could bother Shin.

"We could put itching powder in all of his clothes," Arisa suggested.

"Nah," Kyoko said, "bit harsh don't you think?"

They sighed, unable to reach an agreement where both were happy. "ne, Kyoko-chan, do you want to get revenge on that boy?"

Kyoko frowned. "Arisa-san, I want to. I want so badly to get my revenge for all that he's done to me. But I think that if I leave this place for good, the chances of seeing him again would be very slim." Arisa was shocked that Kyoko was being so rational about this.

"you're okay with-with moving on without closing this chapter of your life?"

"to be honest with you, I am not," she said, smiling sadly. "we leave tomorrow right? I already have my things packed at the inn. There's no turning back, I am going with you guys to find myself. Besides, I have a plan for revenge already thought out ahead of time." Arisa could feel the many years of hatred that had piled up in the young girl's heart over the years. She must have some good memories of being here, Arisa thought, trying to figure out a way to get Kyoko's mind off of the touchy subject. suddenly, she smirked.

"Kyo~ko-chan, come on, you can't tell me that you've lived 12 years liking only one guy. there's got to be someone else that you hold dear." judging from the blush creeping up Kyoko's face, Arisa had hit the nail on the head. "Aha! I knew there was someone who made you happy while you were here!"

Kyoko nodded meekly, smiling at the fond memories. "He was my fairy prince. He was only with me for a month, but that one month was where some of my best memories take place."

Arisa snuggled into the couch, urging Kyoko to continue. "well, when did you meet the guy? what's his name? where'd you meet?"

"slow down, Arisa-san! I can't keep up." she smiled again before continuing. "I was 6 at the time and he was 10. I had run into the woods because my mother had yelled at me for getting an 87 on a test, and I needed to go somewhere where I could cry without bothering anyone. that's where I met Corn, my fairy prince. He was flying in the air, trying to cheer me up. after that day we kept meeting at that spot in the woods, until one day he told me he had to go back home. I was heartbroken, but he left me a stone in memory of our time spent together. the stone, when held up to the light, has the power of taking away all my pain, my sorrow. He was my best friend and my first love."

she finished her tale as so, leaving Arisa dying for more. _this is the part where the guy comes back after many years of disappearing, finally declaring his love for the girl,_ she thought, referring to all those shojo mangas she sat and read in her free time. Just when she was about to share her thoughts with Kyoko, a young crew member came in, holding an envelope in his hands. "Sato-san, here are the personal shots you took with Mogami-san." he handed them to Arisa, walking out as quickly as he had walked in. Arisa quickly opened the envelope, taking a look at the pictures.

she was speechless by how amazing they had turned out. "Kyoko, come look at these!" she said excitedly, practically jumping up and down with joy. The first picture was one of them posing as cops, back-to-back with their hands made into guns. the next was the one where Arisa was whispering in Kyoko's ear while Kyoko broke into laughter. her eyes shined with joy, her smile infectious. they continued looking through the photos until Kyoko finally found her voice. "th-that's me?" she asked, her voice a little shaky.

Arisa put her hand on the young girl's shoulder. "Yes, that's you. the beautiful, wonderful, talented Kyoko standing next to me in those pictures is you."

Slowly Kyoko's mouth turned into a giant smile. she was absolutely ecstatic. "that's me! Look at how amazing these pictures turned out Arisa-san! Shota-san must have done something, they look so professional!"

they continued talking enthusiastically about the photo shoot all the way back to the inn. they stepped inside where Shin was standing, talking with Taisho. they were having a very serious conversation.

"Shin-san, Taisho-san." Arisa greeted them, smiling widely. her smile faded when she saw the grim look on Shin's face. "what's wrong?"

He looked at Arisa, shaking his head a little. Turning, he kneeled in front of Kyoko, completely serious. "Kyoko-chan, I have to go out of the country tomorrow. Because I will be taking custody over you, you are going to have to come with me."

Kyoko frowned. "where are you going? what's going on?"

Shin sighed. "I got a phone call from Boss, he said my brother needs me in California right away. My flight is tomorrow morning at 6, do you want to come with me or would you rather just go with Arisa and Mori to Tokyo?"

Kyoko saw his eyes were slightly red, his hair was messy. _he looks like a mess_, she thought, finally able to answer him. "I'll go with you."

He breathed a sigh of relief, finally letting the tension that was building inside him ease up a little. Standing up, he motioned towards the stairs. "we have to start packing. Make sure you pack for a week, we're going to be there for 5 days."

Kyoko watched Shin head upstairs, frowning at the state he was in. Arisa pulled her arm, motioning for her to come closer.

"Kyoko-chan, listen to me," Arisa said, frowning. "I don't know what happened, but whatever it is it's tearing Shin to shreds. I want you to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't break. He is breaking, it's only a matter of time before he decides to do something he would regret later."

Kyoko nodded, face grim. "I can feel it too. I promise, I will do my best to watch over him."

**-Back to present-**

Kyoko looked at Shin again, taking another bite of her fish. If I ask him what happened, would he respond? She cleared her throat, effectively turning Shin's attention towards her.

"Umm Shin-san, if you don't mind me asking, why exactly are we flying out to California on such short notice?"

He was taken aback by the question. _I should explain to her what happened._ "well, my brother's wife, it seems, has gone into depression. He's also suffering, and I can't just abandon him like that." he patted her head. "I'm sorry, I should have explained a little better. Just telling you to jump on a plane and leave the country was extremely insensitive of me."

"No no, Shin-san! if anything I should apologize for prying. It's just that-well, I mean you looked so troubled that I figured maybe talking about it would help ease your mind a little. Please forgive my impatience." she tried bowing from her seat, almost succeeding if Shin hadn't stopped her. he gave her a stern look.

"Kyoko-chan, you need to start sticking up for yourself more. You won't last a day in the entertainment industry if you keep apologizing like that. Have some confidence in yourself, you are an extremely beautiful and talented young woman."

she smiled shyly, mumbling a thanks and smiling half-heartedly. _Shin-san is always so nice to me. He treats me as if we really were father and daughter._ Smiling a little, she continued to eat her fish. Much to Shin's amusement, her happiness was clear on her face. He chuckled, momentarily forgetting what was waiting for him across the Pacific.

He did his best to keep up the positive attitude, but it was useless. A few minutes later his worries came crashing on his shoulders twice as hard. Looking out the window, he wondered what would happen next.

_I shouldn't have brought her with me,_ he thought, regretting his course of action. _she doesn't even know what's going on, dragging her into my problems is wrong_. He felt a small hand grab hold of his, making him look up. Kyoko looked at him sadly.

"Shin-san, you aren't dragging me into your problems. I chose to come with you, you didn't force me into anything." Shin realized he had just said everything he had just spoken what he was thinking out loud. She continued talking, "You helped me when I needed someone to show me that I wasn't alone. Now it's my turn to help you." she squeezed his hand. "Shin-san, I will help you in any way possible, and if that means flying out of the country to help your grieving brother then so be it."

He smiled genuinely, touched by Kyoko's speech. "thank you, Kyoko-chan. now, I must warn you of a few things before we get there…"

They landed after a while, both exhausted and extremely jet lagged from the long flight. They grabbed their luggage and started looking for their ride home. finally, they saw a tall dark man with curly jet black hair waving at them. Shin waved back and they started making their way outside.

"Shin, how have you been brother?" the tall man ruffled Shin's hair before taking their bags. Shin frowned as he fixed his hair.

"Akito, I'm a grown man. don't you think you could lay off the hair ruffling?" Kyoko stood and watched the exchange from the side, trying to decipher what was happening.

"Shin-san, is he a family friend?" She tried whispering, failing miserably. The two looked at each other and laughed. Kyoko pouted. "Fine, don't tell me."

Akito smiled and held out his hand. "Pleased to meet ya Kyoko-chan. I'm Akito, Shin's younger brother." Kyoko looked at him, clearly skeptical about the statement. _Shin-san is blonde, light-skinned, and looks like a foreigner. Akito -san doesn't look anything like him!_ Noticing the clear doubt on Kyoko's face, Akito explained, "Actually, I was adopted by Shin's parents at a very young age, me and my younger sister. Its pretty obvious that we aren't blood related, isn't it?" He rubbed the back of his neck, smiling a bit. Kyoko suddenly felt very bad for doubting them. "No no, Akito-san! It's my fault for not considering that either of you were adopted. Please accept my sincere apologies." She didn't bow because she knew bowing to people was considered weird in America, but she was apologizing profusely. Akito smiled at , ruffling her hair. "Its fine, kiddo. I'm not gonna hold it against you, it was a little different to meet someone who didn't know we were related. Here in America everyone knows us." Kyoko nodded, wanting to know more. Shin bumped into her shoulder and she looked up, suddenly remembering the reason she was here with him. "Akito-san, let's take the luggage to the car. I'm sure Shin is looking forward to seeing his siblings again." He nodded, leading them to the exit. Kyoko purposely fell back into step with Shin, poking his arm. "Shin-san, are you sure you're okay? Do you want to talk about it?" Shin sent her a fake smile, one that revealed how tired he truly was. Even when he was messing around with Akito-san, he looked tired and a little sad, she thought.

"I'm fine, Kyoko-chan, really. The thing is that it's hard for me to see Akito like that." he bent his head a little lower, lowering his voice to a whisper, "His wife is the one who's gone into depression. he may look like it isn't affecting him, but I can tell that this is killing him on the inside." Kyoko looked shocked. _He was acting like nothing was going on_, she thought. _though it's understandable that I wouldn't be able to catch that, it's the first time I've met Akito-san._ She turned to Shin, grim look on her face. "Shin-san, do you know why his wife's gone into depression?"

Shin took one last look at his brother who had gone to bring the car. "Akito's brother-in-law recently committed suicide. He was really far in debt and had an unstable job which led to his death. Apparently Sierra-chan was the last one to talk to him before he died, and she isn't taking it very well." He saw his brother coming around in his black mini-van and motioned to Kyoko. "we'll talk about it later. Think of this as your second acting test; Akito mustn't find out you know what's going on, okay?"

Kyoko nodded, doing her best to forget what she learned. _How am I going to pretend to forget everything in a matter of minutes? Is this what all actors have to do?_ Quickly putting on her work façade, she smiled at Akito. they put the luggage into the trunk and Kyoko took a seat in the back. Akito started up the conversation. "So, I knew you were going to bring a girl named Kyoko-chan, but I never caught how exactly you two know each other." Kyoko laughed a little.

"actually, it's a pretty funny story. I used to work at an inn that Shin-san stayed at almost a week thought I had acting ability and recruited me on the spot. I've met a few famous people, including the president of LME. Do you know him?" Akito's eyes widened as he looked at his older brother.

"Shin, how exactly did you meet her? and she's already met Boss?! that's amazing Kyoko-chan!" She smiled bashfully at the ground, still not accustomed to the frequent compliments. Shin finally spoke up, "well I wanted a tour of Kyoto and the innkeeper told Kyoko-chan to take me around. I realized she was a natural-born actress and offered her the opportunity of coming back to Tokyo with me. She passed Mori's interrogation session too, you should have seen the look on his face when Kyoko-chan cornered him!" He continued praising her, almost bragging about her to Akito. After hearing everything Akito looked at Kyoko with admiration. "You must be really good to pass boss's evaluation. You should act for us sometime!" Kyoko felt a pang of guilt. _I'm acting now, and so are you_, she thought, wondering where they were going. "Come to think of it, where are we going Akito-san?"

"Oh yeah, I haven't told you yet. We're going to my house. It's not that far away and everyone else has gathered there already, so" he trailed off, not saying anything else. Kyoko feigned innocence, putting on a questioning look but not actually saying anything. _Goodness this really is affecting his mood,_ she thought, struggling to keep up the act.

_She needs more training,_ Shin thought, watching Kyoko try to act innocent and slowly failing. He could see the worry and sadness in expressive eyes. _If Akito even glances at her, he'll know,_ he worried. _Kyoko-chan, you better hope he isn't looking at you._ "Oh yeah, how is Onii doing? It's been ages since we last talked." Suddenly they were surrounded by a tense aura. Shin looked at his brother who was frowning, his hands clutching the steering wheel as if his life depended on it. Swallowing, Shin looked at Akito. "What happened after I left?"

Kyoko leaned forward in her seat, feeling the tension surrounding Akito. Finally, he spoke. "A lot happens in 8 years Shin. Too much has happened in the last 8 years." He took a quick glance at Kyoko, feeling conflicted. _Shin obviously trusts her, but this is way too personal for an outsider to know, especially someone who could use it against us._ "You'll understand when we get there."

_He doesn't want me to be here,_ Kyoko thought, feeling bad that she was the reason Akito couldn't say anything. On another note, she figured changing the subject would be a good idea right about now. "Shin-san, you haven't been in America in 8 years?!"

He shot her a grateful smile, relieved at the change. "well it was when our sister Hikari had her first child Ami. We were all there; me, Akito, Onii, and I dragged Mori along for some support." He paused, hearing someone laughing softly. Pouting, he looked and saw Kyoko's head down, her shoulders shaking and lips curled into a smile. "Don't laugh! I was all stressed for her birth and I wasn't sure if I could make it here in one."

"Whatever you say, Shin-san." She said it in a sarcastic tone, making both Shin and Akito burst into laughter.

The tension was gone, replaced by silly stories and laughter. The rest of the ride to Akito's house went by quickly and they were parked on the driveway. Kyoko stepped out of the car, nervous about what the others would be like. Shin patted her head, making her look up. he smiled reassuringly. "relax, Kyoko-chan. They're gonna love you."

She smiled back at him, taking a deep breath and nodding at Akito. He opened the door and they stepped inside, completely unaware of what had been waiting for them.

* * *

**oho i bet more than half of you thought it would be Kuu and Julie grieving at Kuon's disappearance didn't you? come on, don't be shy! haha yeah, i decided that if Shin can be Kuu's younger brother, why can't there be more siblings? so there are 4 of them: Kuu, Shin, Akito, and Hikari. I'm having waay too much fun with torturing you guys like this.**

**You like? i hope you did, i love you guys and your support. it really means a lot to see that all of you who follow and favorited this story actually liked it. I just put it up because my friends thought it would be a good opportunity, but i really enjoy writing new chapters.**

**okay, to all my guest reviewers:**

**guest #1 (10/19): as you can see, i am not sending her to kuon. he's actually in japan at this point.**

**guest #2 (10/19): yep! california, to be exact!**

**aintgotnone: thank youu! that comment made me smile :)**

**guest #3 (10/19): Shin wants to make sure Lory knows ahead of time just in case some scandal comes out. and Lory is Shin's advisor in this kinda stuff. you'll see what i have planned later.**

**blackdreywolf: i personally enjoyed writing that out very much ;)**

**jay: well thank you! sci-fi fantasy romance is the way to go!**

**sho sho: haha i actually have not. a few crushes every now and then, but i blame those on teenage hormones (cuz the guys i liked were all douchebags -_-) **

**well there's that. OMG WHO READ CHAPTER 205?! KYAAA IT WAS AMAZING! though i wish it was more focused on Koren (mix of Corn, kuon and ren)/Kyoko rather than the other stuff *i don't want to spoil anything major for those of you who haven't read it, which is why i came up with Koren even though i know it's totally cheesy and useless to you people*.**

**hope your day was absolutely amazing and wonderful!**

**-Momo**


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